Mike Arroyo, Lacson, Desierto trust ratings down

The most distrusted public figures in the nation are First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, lawyer Raymund Fortun and former Sen. Rene Saguisag, according to the latest uncommissioned survey of the Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS).

The SWS said that had it not been for Mr. Arroyo’s negative 21 percent net trust rating, President Arroyo would have had an even higher approval rating.

According to the SWS’ fourth quarter national survey, only 21 percent of 1,200 respondents had much trust in the First Gentleman, with 42 percent saying they had little trust in him while the rest were undecided.

The First Gentleman’s net trust rating of -21 percent was a big slide from his -8 percent net trust rating in September and a reversal from his +14 percent rating in January, when his wife succeeded to the presidency.

"Public trust in First Gentleman Arroyo and public satisfaction in President Gloria Arroyo are strongly related to each other, implying that the President’s record-setting 53-percent rating in November would have been higher were it not for the controversy surrounding the First Gentleman," the pollster said in a statement.

However, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao expressed hope the First Gentleman’s negative rating wouldn’t drag down the President’s high approval rating.

"That seems to be the perception but as all of these charges against the First Gentleman are proving to be baseless, we think the public would slowly accept the President’s position and her pronouncement that the First Gentleman doesn’t have anything to do with government," Tiglao said.

Arroyo’s rating was way behind the -7 net trust rating of jailed former President Joseph Estrada, who earned the trust of 35 percent of respondents while 43 percent distrusted him. Estrada’s trust rating in September was -9 percent.

While more people now distrust opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, his net trust rating of -15 percent was not far off his September trust rating of -13 percent.

Forty-four percent of respondents said they had little trust in Lacson (up from 43 percent in September) while 29 percent said they had much trust (down from 30 percent in September).

Both the November and September survey results were turnarounds from Lacson’s favorable net trust rating of +24 percent in February and +14 percent in January, SWS added.

Interestingly, most Filipinos appeared to have little trust for the principal government lawyer and the defense lawyers in Estrada’s celebrated trial for plunder.

Desierto is trusted by only 24 percent of respondents and distrusted by 38 percent, for a net trust rating of -14 percent. This is a reversal from the favorable net trust rating of +11 percent which he got in March 2001.

Saguisag’s net trust rating of -4 percent was also a tremendous reversal from the +32 trust rating he enjoyed in December 1999 when he was last included in the survey.

Saguisag is a prominent member of Estrada’s high-caliber defense panel, which also includes Fortun.

Fortun, who was included in the poll for the first time, had a distrust rating of -11 percent, with only 27 percent of respondents expressing trust and 39 percent saying they distrusted him.

"Survey analysis showed that the public’s current lack of trust in former President Estrada is strongly connected to its lack of trust in his defense lawyers, and moderately related to its fairly high satisfaction with President Arroyo," SWS said.

The survey was conducted from Nov. 3-21, 2001 and involved 1,200 statistically-representative adult respondents nationwide. The survey items were not commissioned and were included on SWS’s initiative for the benefit of subscribers who have no proprietary rights over the data. - With a report from Marichu Villanueva