Amid 'pork' scam, Aquino admin's rating on fighting corruption drops

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration  failed to impress Filipinos by its efforts to address eight of 10 national issues with its grade on fighting government corruption falling by 12 percentage points, according to the latest survey of Pulse Asia.

The results of the survey, which was conducted from September 14 to 27, showed that the Aquino administration was able to obtain majority approval scores only on the issues of criminality (60 percent) and rule of law (54 percent).

But the ratings on both issues were a bit lower than those recorded in the same survey last March.

The Aquino administration's approval rating on fighting graft and corruption in the government also dropped from 59 percent to 47 percent.

"Amidst the PDAF controversy, appreciation for the Aquino administration's anti-corruption initiatives eases between March and September 2013 (-12 percentage points)," the Pulse Asia survey said.

The ratings of the administration on all other issues, except reducing poverty, also slipped:

Table from pulseasia.ph

The Pulse Asia survey also noted that fighting corruption in government (48 percent) was the most urgent national concern cited by Filipinos.

The survey said Filipinos' level of concern regarding corruption and peace in the country increased between June and September (+17 and +7 percentage points, respectively) amid the controversy on the alleged pork barrel scam and the Zamboanga City standoff last month.

"Filipinos are most concerned about corruption, inflation, low pay of workers, and employment; public concern as regards peace and corruption becomes more pronounced between June and September 2013," the survey said.

It also showed that Filipinos are least concerned about rapid population growth (11 percent).

The 10 national concerns included in the survey were:

Table from pulseasia.ph

The Pulse Asia survey polled 1,200 adult Filipinos nationwide.

Earlier this month, an SWS survey showed that the net public satisfaction ratings of Aquino fell by 15 points amid the alleged multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the decline of Aquino's ratings reflects the citizens' anger and disappointment toward alleged misuse of public funds such as lawmakers' pork barrel funds.

"We do recognize that there is a general outrage about how these funds have been spent or how these funds have been misused. And some of that may be directed again to the present administration," Valte said.

Last week, another Pulse Asia survey also revealed that the alleged pork barrel scam pulled down the ratings of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Read: Noy satisfaction ratings fall; Palace blames 'pork' mess | Trust, approval ratings of Congress, Drilon slip amid pork barrel scam