A challenge to do better

Wait for the results of the quarterly survey, which will come out next week, since this will be a more comprehensive and accurate gauge of the people's sentiment. This was Malacañang's response yesterday to reports that President Estrada's net performance rating plummeted to negative 32 percent in a telephone survey conducted this month in Metro Manila.

As expected, the President downplayed the calamitous results. What the nation needs is not a popularity contest, he said, but an accomplishment contest. He issued the statement as he embarked on a four-day visit to the provinces, where he is checking on the progress of development projects. The President is spending the weekend in the Visayas, away from the capital which is awash with rumors of a coup.

It won't be easy for this administration, however, to dismiss survey results. During the campaign for the 1998 presidential election, poll results accurately indicated a landslide victory for the President despite several issues raised against him. In the early months of his presidency, polls showed him retaining his immense popularity despite unending criticisms of his administration. Now that several surveys have shown a precipitous drop in his popularity, it's time for the President to assess the causes of public dissatisfaction.

He can start by focusing on campaign promises that have been broken. The President was swept to victory on a platform of peace and order, with a slogan dedicating his services to the poor. He vowed to stamp out corruption and give no special favors to relatives and friends. Has he delivered on these promises? The President was denied a 100-day "honeymoon" with his critics, but two years is enough time to assess a President's performance. Public discontent can't simply be a creation of the mass media.

The President can rage, throw a tantrum, call up TV stations to berate guests he doesn't like. After he lets off steam, he should give his administration an honest look to find out what is going wrong. Then he can regard negative survey results in a positive light: they are a challenge to his administration to do better.