MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III's net satisfaction rating jumped to a whopping +67 in August from last May's +42, based on the third quarter survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Friday.
Aquino's best so far compared to other SWS satisfaction surveys since the time of his late mother, President Corazon Aquino, matched the net satisfaction rating of former President Joseph Estrada's +67 on March 1999.
The late President Aquino still holds the highest record of +72, which she got in an October 1986 SWS survey followed by former President Fidel Ramos's +69 in July 1993.
Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's highest satisfaction rating was the lowest at +30, which she received in a March 2004 SWS survey.
The latest SWS net satisfaction survey was conducted from March 10 to 13 using face-to-face interview of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
SWS said that the question asked during the interviews was: "Maaari po bang pakisabi ninyo kung gaano kayo nasisiyahan o hindi nasisiyahan sa pagganap ng tungkulin ni Benigno Aquino III bilang President ng Pilipinas. Kayo po ba ay lubos na nasisiyahan, medyo nasisiyahan, hindi tiyak kung nasisiyahan o hindi, medyo hindi nasisiyahan, lubos na hindi nasisiyahan, o wala pa kayong naririnig o nabasa kahit na kailanga tungkol kay Benigno Auqino III?"
The SWS said that 77 percent of the respondents said that they were satisfied with the performance of President Aquino, which was also an increase compared to his satisfaction rating of 63 percent last May.
Only 10 percent said they were not satisfied, a decline from the President's 21 percent rating last May, the survey firm added.
Survey respondents from the Visayas gave President Aquino the satisfaction and net satisfaction ratings while respondents belonging to the ABC group gave him the highest ratings.
Female respondents gave President Aquino a 78 percent satisfaction rating and +67 net satisfaction while the male respondents gave him 77 percent satisfaction rating and +67 net satisfaction.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that the results of the latest survey are proof that "the consistently strong number affirms the President's mandate for change."
"...they are tangible indicators of the people’s support for the difficult yet necessary reforms the President has championed since day one," Lacierda said.
He added that the results suggest "high morale in a public increasingly empowered, and itself sustained in its positive feeling about our nation's direction and prospects for the future."