Pulse Asia: Noy trust, approval ratings remain high

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the furor over the arrest of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a controversial temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court, President Aquino continued to enjoy high approval and trust ratings in the past three months.

A non-commissioned survey conducted by Pulse Asia from Nov. 10 to 23 found 72 percent of Filipinos appreciative of Aquino’s performance, with 74 percent trusting him, according to the results released yesterday.

Nine percent distrusted the President.

However, the survey among 1,200 respondents across the country showed that Aquino’s performance rating was down eight percentage points in Metro Manila, from 72 to 64 percent, and down 10 percentage points in Mindanao, from 81 to 71 percent.

The survey was conducted at the time when the Supreme Court issued its temporary restraining order (TRO) on the travel ban on Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima prevented them from leaving despite the TRO; arrest of Arroyo on electoral fraud; murder of the son of former senator Ramon Revilla Sr. and the alleged involvement of family members in the murder plot; commemoration of the second anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre; and the high court ruling mandating the distribution of lands of Hacienda Luisita to about 6,000 farmer beneficiaries dominated the headlines.

By classes, the President’s performance rating among those in Class E dropped 11 percentage points from 86 to 75 percent.

But Pulse Asia said the overall figures “hardly differ” from those recorded in its August 2011 Ulat ng Bayan survey.

“Although there is a 5-percentage point decline in the President’s national approval rating as well as a 5-percentage point increase in his overall disapproval score and a 4-percentage point rise in his overall distrust rating, these changes are marginal at best given this survey’s overall error margin of +/- 3 percentage points,” it said.

Aquino obtained “sizeable to big majority” approval and trust ratings across geographic areas (64 percent to 82 percent and 69 percent to 87 percent, respectively) and socio-economic classes (65 percent to 75 percent and 68 percent to 76 percent, respectively).

Disapproval scores range from six percent in the Visayas to 11 percent in Mindanao while distrust ratings vary from three percent to 11 percent across geographic areas.

Pulse Asia said Aquino recorded basically the same disapproval and distrust ratings in the different socio-economic groupings (eight percent to 11 percent and eight percent to nine percent, respectively).

Indecision toward presidential performance and trust ratings across geographic areas (12 percent to 25 percent and nine percent to 20 percent, respectively) and socio-economic classes (17 percent to 24 percent and 15 percent to 24 percent, respectively) are generally consistent with the national figures (19 percent and 17 percent, respectively), it said.

“For the most part, Filipinos’ assessment of presidential performance and trustworthiness remains constant between August and November 2011,” the pollster said.

Pulse Asia said the only double-digit movements in Aquino’s ratings are the decline in his approval and trust ratings in Mindanao (-10 and -12 percentage points, respectively), the drop in his approval rating in the poorest Class E (-11 percentage points) and the decrease in the level of indecision toward his trustworthiness recorded among Visayans (-12 percentage points).

Pulse Asia said dissatisfaction with the Aquino administration’s performance on selected national issues became more pronounced between August and November 2011.

A majority of Filipinos approved of the Aquino administration’s work in enforcing the law on all citizens (53 percent), fighting criminality (53 percent) and eradicating corruption in government (56 percent).

Many Filipinos also agree with the administration’s efforts to control population growth (42 percent), increase the pay of workers (43 percent), create more jobs (48 percent), protect the environment (49 percent) and promote peace (50 percent).

Almost the same numbers of Filipinos approve or are undecided about the administration’s initiative to strengthen Filipinos’ trust in government and its officials (44 percent versus 39 percent).

Split 3 ways

Public opinion on efforts to reduce poverty and control inflation is split three ways as the administration scores essentially the same approval (32 percent), indecision (31 to 32 percent) and disapproval ratings (36 to 37 percent).

Disapproval for the work the administration has done on these issues is more pronounced in November 2011 than six months ago.

Disapproval for the administration’s efforts to equally enforce the law on all Filipinos, create more jobs, strengthen public trust in government and its officials, increase the pay of workers, control population growth, control the increasing prices of commodities and reduce poverty increased from +8 to +15 percentage points.

The biggest increase in disapproval is recorded on the issue of reducing poverty.

Approval for the Aquino administration’s initiatives in fighting criminality, promoting peace, increasing the pay of workers, controlling inflation and reducing poverty also eased from -7 to -8 percentage points.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a plus or minus three percentage points error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

‘Filipinos trust P-Noy’

Meanwhile, Malacañang said the latest Ulat ng Bayan survey confirms the confidence of Filipinos in the President.

“His trust level remained virtually unchanged and likewise stayed in record levels at 74 percent as reflected in the most recent Pulse Asia survey, held between November 10 to 23, 2011,”presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.

He said the latest figures also “show that the administration’s unwavering commitment to eradicate corruption, pursue inclusive growth, and provide basic services to the people continues to receive widespread support from our countrymen.”

“The government remains grateful, and takes it as a signal to pursue our reform agenda even more vigorously,” Lacierda said.

n Congress, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said the poll showed that Filipinos are generally happy with Aquino’s efforts with respect to governance.

“The administration should now focus on the economy – especially creating jobs by government spending,” Angara said.

Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said the trust rating of Aquino was expected, but noted that other figures also showed a decline in the President’s rating in some areas “because of the failure of delivery of services.”

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the survey showed that “more and more people are disillusioned with the President’s ability to improve the lives of the poor and the country’s economy.” With Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero