Arroyo rating lowest ever
SWS says 3 out of 5 dissatisfied with her
First posted 11:57pm (Mla time) June 02, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the June 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AMID RISING prices, higher taxes and a "jueteng" controversy involving her family, the performance rating of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo tumbled to -33 in May, the lowest ever for a Philippine leader since 1986.
In a media statement released late last night, the private polling firm Social Weather Stations said its survey from May 14 to 23 found that 59 percent of Filipinos were dissatisfied with Ms Arroyo's performance while only 26 percent were satisfied.
In an SWS survey conducted from Feb. 25 to March 10, Ms Arroyo had a performance rating of -12. A total of 48 percent of respondents then were dissatisfied with her performance while 36 percent were satisfied.
Not even President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted amid charges of widespread corruption in his administration, experienced such a low performance rating during his three-year stay in office.
Ms Arroyo earlier said she expected her popularity to plummet with the imposition of new taxes to stave off a looming fiscal crisis. A doubling of world crude prices also caused local prices of fuel and other goods to soar, substantially diminishing the purchasing power of Filipinos.
At a time when Ms Arroyo has been calling for belt-tightening measures in government and sacrifices among the people, her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, and their son, Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, have been accused of accepting payoffs from illegal gambling lords. The Arroyo family has denied the charge.
The net satisfaction rating of Ms Arroyo in Visayas, where she customarily draws her strongest support, turned negative to -15, falling by 34 percentage points from +19 in March.
Her performance rating also fell by 30 percentage points in Luzon to -47 from -17 in March.
In Metro Manila, Ms Arroyo's rating fell by 9 percentage points to -47 from -38 in March. It was more or less steady in Mindanao, -12 now from -14.
The President's net rating plunged in rural areas by 22 points to -27
from -5 in March, and by 13 points in urban areas to -36 from -23.
Her net satisfaction rating among both the "masa" (Class D) and the middle to upper classes (ABC) declined to -34 in May from -13 in March. Her ratings also fell among the "very poor" (Class E) to -29 from -8.
The latest SWS survey showed net satisfaction ratings holding steady for top government officials:
• Vice President Noli de Castro, +22 in May from +19 in March.
• Senate President Franklin Drilon, +8 from +2 in March.
• House Speaker Jose de Venecia, -2 from -8.
• Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., +1 from -5.
The SWS surveys in March and May used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults each. Both surveys have sampling error margins of approximately plus and minus 3 percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level for national-level percentages.
The survey questions were not commissioned, but were included on SWS's own initiative. The SWS surveys are supported by subscribers who have no proprietary rights over the data.