SWS poll gives GMA net approval rating of 24% from -4%

Gloria must be in excelsis.

In the first survey on her performance conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) since she became president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo obtained a +24 net satisfaction rating, a "radical change" from her last rating of -4.

In the latest uncommissioned survey of the SWS, some 42 percent of 1,500 registered voters said they were satisfied with President Arroyo while 18-percent said they were dissatisfied.

SWS, in a statement, called the +24 net rating, or percent satisfied minus percent dissatisfied, a "radical change" from the result of the last survey on Mrs. Arroyo’s performance.

The survey showed that the reversal in Mrs. Arroyo’s satisfaction rating was built on increases in satisfied voters and reductions in dissatisfied voters.

But the survey also showed that voters who said they were undecided also increased to 39 percent this month from 23 percent during the last survey in December.

The December performance survey was conducted in Dec. 8-17 last year when Mrs. Arroyo was still Vice President and during the impeachment trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

At that time, 36-percent expressed satisfaction with her performance but 40-percent said they were dissatisfied for a net rating of -4, her lowest since 1999.

According to SWS data, Mrs. Arroyo enjoyed high ratings until December last year.

In October 1999, she got a +72 rating, well ahead of Estrada’s +28 rating in the same period. Estrada never got a rating higher than +67 (in March 1999) in SWS surveys.

In December 1999, Mrs. Arroyo got +60 rating, followed by a +68 rating in March 2000 and +63 in October 2000 before dropping to -4 in December last year.

The survey showed the number of satisfied voters grew from 36 percent in December to 42 percent this month while dissatisfied voters decreased from 40 percent in December to 18 percent this month.

The two-week survey started two days after the Supreme Court affirmed the legitimacy of her succession to the presidency.

Other vital developments during the two-week period also include the settlement of a leadership contest in the military, the start of her peace initiative with communists and Muslim separatists and her support for a special list-up for first-time voters.

SWS said the turnaround in her performance rating "cuts across different socio-demographic categories"

Mrs. Arroyo’s latest rating was highest in the Visayas where she got a +29 net rating (42-percent satisfied vs. 13-percent dissatisfied) from +4 in December.

Predictably, her lowest rating was from Mindanao voters, 39 percent of whom were satisfied versus 23-percent dissatisfied, for a net rating of +17.

In Luzon, except Metro Manila, she got a +25 rating (42-percent satisfied vs. 17-percent dissatisfied).

The most dramatic reversals were in Metro Manila where satisfied voters grew to 43 percent from 19 percent while dissatisfied decreased to 19 percent from 56 percent, for a net rating of +23 from -37.

But while the SWS data showed Mrs. Arroyo is beginning to recover from her lowest satisfaction ratings, it also showed that her rating pales when compared to the rating of her predecessors during their first year in office.

Former President Corazon Aquino enjoyed the highest rating of +72 in October 1986. Former President Fidel Ramos’ rating hit +69 in July 1993 before plummeting to +1 in October 1995. Estrada hit +67 in March 1999.

The SWS survey also rated Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr as well as the three branches of government.

Guingona, rated for the first time as Vice President, obtained a net rating of +19 (39 percent satisfied vs 20 percent dissatisfied) while Belmonte, also rated for the first time as Speaker, got a +10 rating (30 percent satisfied vs 21 percent dissatisfied).

It was Pimentel who enjoyed the highest rating as an individual after getting a +39 rating (53 percent satisfied vs 14 percent dissatisfied), which is an improvement from his net rating of +22 in December.

However, it was the Supreme Court which received the highest institutional rating of +37 compared to the +27 rating of the national government, +24 rating of the Senate and the +20 rating of House of Representatives.