Gov't worried about Estrada's continuing popularity drop

The government is worried about President Estrada's continuing popularity decline, but is already taking steps to remedy it, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said yesterday.

Zamora confirmed that Mr. Estrada's net satisfaction rating plunged to negative 13 percent in February, based on a Manila area telephone survey commissioned by the government.

The survey showed that 44 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied with the President's performance, compared with 31 percent who were satisfied. The remaining 25 percent were undecided.

"We are worried, but we are taking steps to correct some of the misimpressions. You can't do anything about it," Zamora said in a radio interview.

On the other hand, the President appears not a bit concerned about his plunging popularity rating. "I want to tell you that everything is okay," he said.

Mr. Estrada said he will rely on his economic programs to help shore up his ratings.

"I will leave a legacy to the masses. I will reciprocate what the masses had done to me," he said.

Zamora said the survey was taken at the height of a controversy surrounding a presidential pardon to priest killer Norberto Manero Jr. and a probe into trading irregularities involving gambling company BW Resources Corp.

BW shareholder Dante Tan, one of those implicated in the trading scandal, is an Estrada ally. The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Perfecto Yasay Jr., accused Mr. Estrada of attempting to clear Tan's name -- a charge the President vehemently denied.

The survey, conducted between Feb. 9 and 13 by the Social Weather Stations Inc., covered 450 respondents chosen randomly from households with telephones in Metro Manila. The margin of error was 4.7 percentage points, the firm said.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, whose agency is the "duly designated" subscriber of SWS surveys, said the result of the recent poll does not truly reflect the sentiments of the people.

He said that since all of the respondents have telephones, "these are the income groups that are not really in favor of the President."

In a survey by the SWS last June, 78 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Mr. Estrada's performance and 12 percent said they were dissatisfied, for a net satisfaction rating of 66 percent.

Zamora said it is normal for any government to incur public dissatisfaction because of unpopular decisions. He said the government nonetheless is not disregarding the survey and that the situation can still be remedied.

"Where we can do something, we are doing it," he said.

Among the steps Mr. Estrada is pursuing to improve his image is a Cabinet shakeup which began last December, Zamora said.

For his part, Press Secretary Rodolfo Reyes said the survey is actually an "internal management tool" to help Malacañang make decisions on certain issues.

"The survey is for our own internal consumption," he said.

In a related development, Ambassador to the United States Ernesto Maceda told Mr. Estrada to calm down amid his sagging popularity.

"Kaunting yanig, nininerbiyos na kayo (You get jittery over a small issue)," he said in his remarks during his 65th birthday celebration at a hotel last Sunday night.

"Mr. Estrada is our one and only President. When he goes up, we go up with him," the ambassador said.

"Let's concentrate on the positive ... the President will recover his second wind. He can live up to the expectations of the people," he said. --