SWS: GMA administration hits lowest rating at -23

MANILA, Philippines - Public satisfaction with the performance of the Arroyo administration fell to a “poor” -23 in the last quarter of 2009, its lowest approval rating in nine years, a survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Dec. 5 to 10, 2009, sampled 2,100 adults nationwide.

In the survey, 28 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the overall performance of the national administration, while 51 percent said they are dissatisfied.

In the previous quarter, President Arroyo, who took office in 2001, received a general satisfaction rating of -21, still within the “poor” bracket.

The national administration, however, obtained a “very good” net satisfaction rating of +51 on helping victims of disaster.

The administration received “moderate” ratings for preparing for natural calamities (+27), promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (+26), ensuring that medicine is affordable (+20), and helping the poor (+17).

It received “neutral” ratings for fighting terrorism (+4), campaigning against illegal drugs (-3), reconciliation with Muslim rebels (-4), reconciliation with communist rebels (-5), fighting crimes (-9), and fighting inflation (-9).

The administration got “poor” ratings for mitigating hunger (-15), suppressing Mindanao politicians with private armies (-17), and eradicating graft and corruption (-27).

The survey also showed that the public had mixed opinion on government efforts to resolve the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, giving the Arroyo administration a neutral net satisfaction rating of -2 with 41 percent satisfied and 44 percent dissatisfied.

The remaining 15 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

More attuned

The survey also showed that at the time of the survey, the public was more interested in following developments on the welterweight title bout between Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.

Eighty-five percent of the population followed the Pacquiao-Cotto pre-fight and post fight news. Only 75 percent followed the developments on the Maguindanao massacre.

The survey had sampling error margins of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for national percentages, plus or minus six percentage points for Metro Manila and plus or minus four percentage points for balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

SWS defined net satisfaction ratings as follows: +50 and above, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”; +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 or lower, “very bad.”

The net satisfaction rating is the difference between the percentage of satisfied and unsatisfied responses.