Ratings plummet, but Binay still most trusted

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay’s approval and trust ratings dropped by 15 percentage points in the third quarter survey of Pulse Asia, but he remains the most trusted government official.

In the same survey, President Aquino’s approval score slipped by a point to 55 percent while his trust score improved by a point to 54 percent.

The Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan nationwide survey, taken from Sept. 8 to 15, found 66 percent of Filipinos saying they were satisfied with Binay’s performance, down from 81 percent in June.

The Pulse Asia survey comes amid allegations of corruption against Binay and his family.

Binay’s trust rating also plunged to 64 percent in September from 79 percent three months earlier.

The Vice President’s performance and trust scores fell by 16 points (to 61 percent) and 14 points (60 percent), respectively, in Metro Manila.

His approval and trust ratings also declined by 16 points (to 68 percent) and 14 points (to 67 percent), respectively, in the rest of Luzon.

Binay’s approval and trust scores in Class ABC also declined by 19 points (to 54 percent) and 13 points (to 52 percent), respectively, Pulse Asia said.

“Ambivalence as regards the work done by the Vice President as well as his trustworthiness became more manifest not only at the national level (both at 8 percentage points) but also in Class D (both at 11 percentage points),” the survey research institute said.

Furthermore, the level of indecision on the matter of trusting or distrusting the Vice President went up in the Visayas (13 percentage points).

“The drop can be partly attributed to the negative reports and allegations,” Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said in a text message to The STAR.

He said movements in Binay’s trust and approval ratings will depend on the developments in politics and the ongoing Senate investigation on the alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall building II.

Former Makati City vice mayor Ernesto Mercado claimed that when Binay was mayor, he received kickbacks from city projects.

“It may or may not change in the subsequent survey depending on developments relative to the Vice President, in particular, and politics in general, from the present and until our next survey,” Holmes said.

Despite the drop in his scores, Binay continued to score majority approval and trust ratings in every geographic area (55 percent to 75 percent and 53 percent to 70 percent, respectively) and socio-economic groupings (54 percent to 71 percent and 52 percent to 70 percent, respectively).

The accusations against Binay also affected his scores in Pulse Asia’s recent presidential poll.

Noy also trusted, appreciated

For his part, President Aquino posted majority approval and trust ratings in the Visayas (65 percent and 61 percent, respectively), Mindanao (68 percent and 65 percent, respectively), Class D (54 percent and 52 percent, respectively) and Class E (both at 61 percent).

Appreciation and trust are the plurality sentiments toward the President in Metro Manila (48 percent and 47 percent, respectively), the rest of Luzon (46 percent and 48 percent, respectively) and Class ABC (48 percent and 49 percent, respectively).

As for Senate President Franklin Drilon, 39 percent expressed approval of his work, down from 52 percent in June. His trust score also dipped to 37 percent from 46 percent previously.

Pulse Asia said indecision is the plurality sentiment toward Drilon’s work and trustworthiness in Metro Manila (45 percent and 44 percent, respectively), the rest of Luzon (48 percent and 47 percent, respectively), Class D (both at 47 percent) and Class E (47 percent and 49 percent, respectively).

The Senate President registered almost the same approval and indecision ratings in the Visayas (44 percent versus 43 percent) and practically the same trust and indecision ratings in Mindanao (46 percent versus 42 percent).

On the other hand, a near majority of Mindanaoans (47 percent) expressed satisfaction with Drilon’s work while a big plurality of Visayans (45 percent) could not say if they trust or distrust him.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno registered minimal changes in their approval and trust scores between June and September, according to Pulse Asia.

Belmonte’s approval rating fell by three points to 30 percent in September while his trust score dropped by a point to 27 percent.

Sereno’s approval and trust ratings both declined by two points to 33 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Improvements in ratings

Pulse Asia also noted improvements in the approval and ratings of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The approval and trust ratings of the Senate both improved by seven points to 40 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

Satisfaction with the performance of the House increased by four points to 38 percent, while its trust rating went up by seven points to 36 percent.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, experienced a one-point decline in its approval rating to 48 percent. Trust in the high court, on the other hand, increased by two points to 44 percent.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents aged 18 years old and above.

It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Binay grateful

Binay thanked the public for their continued support, saying it would not have been possible to maintain his trust and performance ratings if not for them.

Binay, who is in Koronadal, South Cotabato to distribute housing projects of the government, said if elected president in 2016, he will prioritize housing projects and peace-building measures.

“I also want to have a decrease in the poverty level. Yes, our economy is improving, but there are still many who are poor and jobless,” Binay said.

He said he will bring the country to where Makati is right now.

“Makati is the richest city all over the country now. The benefits of Makati residents are from birth to death,” Binay said.

The Vice President’s daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay, prefers to look at the survey results as part of the cycle of life.

“Of course you can’t always be going up. That’s how gravity works right? If you look at the surveys anyway, he is still the most trusted public official,” she said.

Senator Binay admitted that the allegations raised against her father, which is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, played a role in the drop in her father’s approval rating.

“What is being talked about are the allegations against him and not what he has been doing for the people,” Binay said.

But Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the Blue Ribbon subcommittee that is investigating the allegedly overpriced parking building constructed by the city government of Makati, said that it was never the intention of the committee to affect anyone’s chances as far as the 2016 elections are concerned.

“We are only after the truth and on my part, I am after minimizing graft and corruption and the opportunities for graft in the local level because of my pending bill, the bigger pie, bigger slice bill, which will bring more funds to the local government units,” Pimentel said.

Encouraged

Malacañang is encouraged by the latest Pulse Asia survey.

In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President is taking into consideration the results of public opinion surveys to further improve the government’s quality of service to the people.

He said Aquino was focused on implementing the necessary programs for the people to make permanent the reforms and transformation he had initiated. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Marvin Sy, Aurea Calica