SWS: Noy satisfaction rating dips in Q4

MANILA, Philippines - Public satisfaction with President Aquino’s performance dropped in the last quarter of the year, but Malacañang was unfazed by the decline.

A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey taken from Dec. 5 to 8 found 58 percent of the respondents satisfied and 26 percent dissatisfied with Aquino’s performance, resulting in a net satisfaction rating of +32, which is classified as “good.”

Aquino’s satisfaction score slipped by nine points from +41 in September.

The remaining 16 percent of the 1,200 adult respondents were undecided, the pollster said.

Results of the latest SWS survey on Aquino’s public satisfaction rating were published in BusinessWorld yesterday.

The President’s satisfaction rating fell by 23 points in balance Luzon to “moderate” +23 from September’s “good” +46 percent.

His satisfaction score went down by eight points but stayed in “good” territory to +31 in Mindanao from +39 in September.

Aquino’s net satisfaction rating increased by eight points but stayed “very good” in the Visayas at +58.

It stayed “moderate” in Metro Manila at +23 percent, up by five points from September’s +18 percent.

Among socioeconomic groups, Aquino’s net satisfaction rating stayed “good” among respondents from classes ABC at +44 and E at +45.

It fell by 11 points to a “moderate” +28 among those in class D.

The survey has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus six percentage points each for Metro Manila, balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

 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 as “execrable.”

Palace unfazed

A Malacañang official downplayed the decline in President Aquino’s satisfaction rating.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino’s 58 percent satisfaction score in the fourth quarter SWS survey “remains the highest among all his predecessors.”

“While these high figures encourage us in the administration, we measure success by other metrics that reflect the quality of lives of the people,” Lacierda said.

“The Aquino administration continues to do its work not for survey results but toward the more tangible benefits of good governance, poverty alleviation, job increase and economic expansion,” he added.

Government records show that unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level at 5.7 percent and the third quarter 2015 GDP growth rose to six percent.

A study conducted on the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program showed that 1.4 million households were able to rise above the poverty line, Lacierda said.

“We will continue to work toward realizing the dream of every Filipino: to have a more peaceful, prosperous and inclusive Philippines,” he said.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office acknowledged the survey results. - With Delon Porcalla