Yolanda fails to pull down Noy ratings – SWS

MANILA, Philippines - Public satisfaction with President Aquino remained unchanged in the last quarter despite criticisms on the way his government responded to Super Typhoon Yolanda and other calamities that hit the country this year, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The SWS survey found 69 percent of Filipinos satisfied with the President’s performance while 21 percent were dissatisfied, giving him a net satisfaction score of 49 (“good”).

Results of the SWS Fourth Quarter poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

However, the SWS recorded a two-point increase in the number of Filipinos who claimed they were dissatisfied with Aquino’s work, from 19 percent in September to 21 percent now.

But applying the survey’s sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages, Aquino’s net rating remained at 49.

Aquino recorded a “very good” 62 during his first year in office.

Aquino’s scores improved in all areas except in Metro Manila.

In the Visayas, which was devastated by Yolanda last Nov. 8, the President’s net score rose to a “very good” 50 from September’s “good” 48. 

It went up by two points to “very good” 54 in balance Luzon, and up by a point in Mindanao at 53.

However, in Metro Manila the President’s net rating plunged to a “moderate” 22 from the “good” 38 three months earlier.

Satisfaction with the President‘s performance in rural areas rose by six points to 58 but remained in “very good” territory.

In urban areas, his satisfaction score dropped by five points to 42 (“good”). 

By socio-economic class, Aquino’s net ratings stayed “very good” at 68 among the ABC, up by 13 points. It also increased by 18 points to a “very good” 57 among class E, from September’s “good” 39.

But it fell among the D or masa to a merely “good” 45 from September’s “very good” 52.

Aquino’s net score was unchanged at a “very good” 50 among women and remained “good” at 47 among men.

The SWS poll was conducted from Dec. 11 to 16, using face-to-face interviews with 1,550 Filipino adults nationwide.

The survey research institution classifies net satisfaction scores of 70 and above 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.”  

Best proof

Malacañang is elated with the latest SWS survey, saying most Filipinos know how to discern facts from spin.

“This means the momentum of inclusive growth and change will continue unabated as we enter the final stretch of the President’s term,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.

Results of the fourth quarter survey for 2013, according to him, only showed one “evident” fact: “The Filipino people continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Aquino administration.”   

“These results serve as a reassurance: The Filipino people, who he has constantly referred to as his strength, continue to stand behind him. They believe in his leadership, founded on efficiency, firmness, and foresight,” he said.

The latest figure obviously runs counter to what detractors have been bragging about all along.

“In lieu of the usual naysayers trying to promote the impression that there is a general dissatisfaction among the Filipino people, the survey shows that an overwhelming majority in balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, as well as a healthy majority in Metro Manila, are solidly with the President,” Lacierda said. “The administration will continue working overtime to propel our country along the path to recovery and, ultimately, to unprecedented prosperity. Surely, with the belief and the participation of the Filipino people, we cannot fail,” he added.

For his part, Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said President Aquino remains focused. 

The President and the members of his Cabinet are determined to pursue and complete the priority programs of the Philippine Development Plan, regardless of survey results, he said.  

“As the President emphasizes, we will do right by our people and endeavor to fulfill their aspirations for a better future,” he said. – With Delon Porcalla