SWS: Binay rated ‘excellent’ as others slip

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay again gained the highest approval rating among government officials in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Public satisfaction with Binay rose from “very good” to “excellent” based on the March 2014 survey of the SWS.

The poll, conducted from March 27 to 30, showed 82 percent of Filipinos expressing satisfaction with Binay’s performance while only nine percent were dissatisfied, giving him a net score of +73 or “excellent.”

Binay’s latest net satisfaction rating was up by 11 points from the “very good” +62 recorded last December.

Of the 15 surveys conducted by SWS since he assumed office in 2010, Binay scored eight “excellent” ratings and seven “very good” ratings.

“The results of the first quarter Social Weather Stations survey are expressions of appreciation for Vice President Binay’s performance. He is again grateful to the people for their trust and confidence and to the President for the opportunity to serve as a member of the Cabinet,” said Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesman.

“With two years left to his term, Vice President Binay will remain focused on his work, particularly assisting overseas Filipino workers, housing, and providing help to our countrymen in need. He will not be distracted by crude attempts of political detractors to malign his name and raise false and baseless allegations against him,” Salgado added.

Meanwhile, satisfaction with the work of Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno fell in the same survey.

Drilon’s net satisfaction score fell by eight points but remained “moderate” at +17 (46 percent satisfied, 29 percent dissatisfied).

Satisfaction with Belmonte dropped by 17 points to -1 (32 percent satisfied, 32 percent dissatisfied).

Sereno’s net satisfaction score, on the other hand, fell by 12 points to +4 (34 percent satisfied, 30 percent dissatisfied).

Satisfaction with the top government institutions also dropped in the first quarter of the year.

Satisfaction with the Senate declined by seven points to a “moderate” +26 (54 percent satisfied, 29 percent dissatisfied).

The House of Representatives, however, registered a larger eight-point decline to “moderate” at +18 (45 percent satisfied, 26 percent dissatisfied).

The Supreme Court’s rating, on the other hand, hardly moved from December, dipping by a point to +35 (56 percent satisfied, 21 percent dissatisfied).

But the Cabinet as a whole maintained its “moderate” +20 (45 percent satisfied, 25 percent dissatisfied) score.

The SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings 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.”

The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult Filipinos nationwide. – With Jose Rodel Clapano