SWS: 41% of Pinoys dissatisfied with handling of hostage crisis

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos are divided over the government’s handling of the Aug. 23 hostage crisis that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead, a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The SWS poll, conducted from Sept. 24 to 27, found 41 percent of respondents dissatisfied with the way the government dealt with the crisis, while 36 percent said otherwise. The undecided accounted for 21 percent.

Respondents from the Visayas and Metro Manila gave the Aquino administration “poor” net scores of -21 and -20, respectively.

In the rest of Luzon, the administration received a “neutral” -4 rating, while in Mindanao, the government obtained a “moderate” +13 score.

Results of the SWS survey were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

The survey also found a significant number of respondents convinced that TV and radio coverage of the crisis had brought “great” or “very great” danger to the hostages.

Asked about the degree of danger TV and radio coverage brought to the hostages, 46 percent of the respondents said the danger was “very great” while 36 percent said the danger was “great.” For 13 percent of the respondents, the coverage brought “only a slight danger” and four percent said there was “no danger.”

Eighty-four percent of those surveyed in Metro Manila said media coverage had caused great danger. It was the same perception for 83 percent in the rest of Luzon, 82 percent in Mindanao, and 81 percent in the Visayas.

Seven of every 10 Filipinos, meanwhile, said they had followed the incident “somewhat closely” or “very closely.”

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adult respondents.