SWS: Binay rating dips

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay’s satisfaction rating dipped from “excellent” to “very good” in the third quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Binay received a net satisfaction rating of 69, with 78 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied with his performance and 10 percent declaring otherwise.

This was seven points down from the “excellent” 76 he obtained in June, according to the SWS third quarter poll published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

The SWS poll, taken from Sept. 20 to 23, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

Senate President Franklin Drilon received a net score of “good” 37 (55 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied). Drilon was not included in the June survey of the SWS as he assumed the Senate presidency in July this year.

Drilon’s current rating was up by 12 points from the “moderate” 25 he obtained when he was last rated as Senate President in June 2006.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. received a two-point gain to “moderate” 18 (41 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) from 16 in the previous quarter.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno also experienced improvement in her net satisfaction rating to a “moderate” 17 (39 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied) from 13 previously.

The SWS said satisfaction with the Senate and House of Representatives dropped in September.

The Senate’s net score fell to a “good” 36 (59 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) from June’s “very good” 54.

The House’s score also dropped to a “moderate” 27 (50 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) from a “good” 37 three months earlier.

The Supreme Court, on the other hand, recorded a four-point gain to a “good” 41 (60 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied) from 37 in June.

Satisfaction with the Cabinet was basically unchanged. It received a “moderate” at 27 (48 percent satisfied, 21 percent dissatisfied) in September from 28 previously.

The SWS classifies net satisfaction scores of 70 and up as “excellent;” 50 to 69, “very good;” 30 to 49, “good;” 10 to 29, “moderate,” 9 to -9, “neutral;” -10 to -29, “poor;” -30 to -49, “bad;” -50 to -69, “very bad;” and -70 and below, “execrable.”

The survey has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages.

Wake-up call

Even with the decline in his latest satisfaction score, Binay yesterday said he remains grateful for his “very good” rating and acknowledged that people have high expectations from government officials.

The Vice President said the survey should be a “wake-up call” for top government officials whose ratings went down.

“We cannot really have a 100 percent accurate survey but I have no issue with the SWS result. If we have shortcomings, then it’s a wake-up call,” Binay said.

He also said he believes the satisfaction rating of President Aquino directly affects the ratings of those in the executive department.

An SWS survey released last month showed that Aquino’s satisfaction rating for the third quarter of 2013 fell to 49 percent from 64 percent in June.

“If you look at the previous surveys, you will notice that if the rating of the President drops, our ratings also drop. This is because it reflects on the executive department,” Binay said.

Belated admission

Meanwhile, Malacañang finally acknowledged yesterday that Aquino’s trust and satisfaction ratings reached a low of 42 percent, from a high of 77 percent in his more than three years in office.

But Press Secretary Herminio Coloma defended the ratings’ dip, saying the Chief Executive remains focused and will not be dissuaded by periodic results of surveys, even if this may be on a downtrend.

He attributed the 42 percent rating to SWS president Mahar Mangahas, but did not specify what particular period was covered by the survey.

He also recognized that Aquino obtained a 49 percent satisfaction rating in the third quarter survey of the SWS, several points down from his previous rating.

According to Coloma, Mangahas said the rating cannot be considered bad because it still shows that most Filipinos remain satisfied with the performance of Aquino.

Motivated by good rating

Drilon, for his part, yesterday welcomed the positive satisfaction rating that he received in the latest SWS survey and vowed to work even harder to improve the performance of the Senate.

In a statement, Drilon said the SWS survey was an opportunity for him to hear the opinion of the people on his performance and work on how to respond accordingly.

“We are even more motivated by these numbers to work harder, and to commit ourselves even more in passing legislation that will better serve the interests of the Filipino people,” he said.

Drilon, who pushed for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of the members of Congress, said the country is entering a new phase in its political system with the recent ruling by the Supreme Court declaring the PDAF unconstitutional.

“From the politics of patronage to the politics of performance and principles, from the politics of accommodation to the politics of accomplishments, and from the politics of favoritism to the politics of fairness,” Drilon said.

“Congress has been undergoing a difficult but necessary cleansing process toward the desired reform in our country’s political system. The people’s vigilance has been instrumental in bringing about positive changes in our government,” he said.

He said efforts undertaken by the Senate to abolish the PDAF and to investigate its alleged misuse are all meant to make the people realize that the institution is worth their trust. – Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Marvin Sy