MANILA, Philippines - Despite his perceived ineptitude in handling the Mamasapano debacle, more Filipinos still want President Benigno Aquino III to continue his term, a new Pulse Asia survey showed Thursday.
Results of the survey conducted from March 1 to 7 showed 42 percent of Filipinos do not agree that Aquino should resign as president following the Mamasapano operation that left 67 people dead.
Of the 1,200 Filipinos polled, only 29 percent believe that Aquino should no longer stay in office while 28 percent may agree and may disagree with his resignation.
"Amidst the various challenges being faced by the incumbent administration, among which are the unresolved questions regarding the Mamasapano operation... around four out of 10 Filipinos do not think President Aquino should step down from office now," Pulse Asia said.
The polling firm said the opposition to Aquino's resignation is the plurality sentiment among those in Metro Manila (45 percent), the rest of Luzon (47 percent), and Class D (43 percent).
Public opinion is split three-ways in the Visayas, with 36 percent being ambivalent on the matter, 34 percent opposing calls for the President's resignation now, and 29 percent supporting such calls.
In Mindanao and Class ABC, virtually the same percentages either think Aquino should not resign at the present time (39 percent and 42 percent, respectively) or express ambivalence on the matter (34 percent and 32 percent, respectively).
At the national level, virtually the same level of agreement to Aquino's resignation and indecision on the matter were recorded.
Aquino has courted resignation calls as he faces his biggest political crisis over his perceived mishandling of the Mamasapano debacle.
The president has been heavily criticized for pinning all the blame to relieved Special Action Force (SAF) commander Getulio Napeñas instead of admitting his possible fault in the botched January 25 operation that killed 44 police commandos.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) Board of Inquiry (BOI) report on the incident found that Aquino broke the chain of command when he bypassed PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina by dealing directly with his close friend, then suspended PNP Director General Alan Purisima, during the execution of the operation.
The Senate committees that investigated the Mamasapano tragedy also said in their draft report that Aquino is "ultimately responsible" for the outcome of the SAF mission.
Aquino has yet to apologize for the bungled operation while his trust and approval ratings has nosedived to their lowest levels following the tragedy.
Pulse Asia also revealed today that 79 percent of Filipinos believe that Aquino's explanation regarding the Mamasapano incident has been insufficient.
READ: 8 of 10 Pinoys: Aquino's Mamasapano explanation not enough