In the new Social Weather Survey of September 2-5, 2007, 34% are satisfied and 45% are dissatisfied with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's performance, for a net rating of -11 (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied).
This compares with 39% satisfied and 42% dissatisfied with her, or net -3, as of June 2007.
Thus, Net Satisfaction with the President dropped back to the negative level of the second to the fourth quarters of 2006, after being roughly neutral in first and second quarters of 2007.
The new survey found 20% with much trust, and 58% with little trust, in First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, for a net trust rating of -37 (correctly rounded). Positive net trust in Mr. Arroyo occurred only in January 2001; it has been negative from September 2001 to the present.
In 20 national Social Weather Surveys from January 2001 to September 2007, the average proportion trusting First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was only 20%, whereas the average proportion distrusting him was 51%, giving him an average net trust rating of -31 in the said period.
Distrust in him was already dominant even in the times, up to mid-2004, when most people were satisfied with the President.
Tabulation of public trust in First Gentleman Arroyo against public satisfaction in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shows that he is relatively distrusted even by those satisfied with the President.
Distrust in the First Gentleman is 49% among those satisfied with the performance of Pres. Arroyo, but rises to 67% among those dissatisfied with her.
The Third Quarter of 2007 Social Weather Survey was conducted over September 2-5, 2007 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for area percentages).
The area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2007 to obtain the national estimates.
The quarterly Social Weather Surveys on public satisfaction with the President and trust in prominent personalities such as the First Gentleman, are not commissioned, but are done on SWS's own initiative and released as a public service.