Western Visayas governors give PNoy high ratings

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  - Despite a drop in President Aquino's approval ratings in recent surveys, the governors of Western Visayas have given him high ratings from 7.7 to 9, in a scale of 1 to 10, saying he has done well in his first year in office.

The governors made their comments on the issue to reporters during the Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting at the Negros Occidental Capitol Thursday.

RDC chair and Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco gave the President an 8, Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez gave him a 9, Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said he still maintained his previous rating of 7.5, and Guimaras Gov. Felipe Hilan Nava gave him 8 to 9.

Tanco said he rated Aquino an 8 because the president's anti-corruption thrust has been getting positive feedbacks.

Marquez, whose province of Aklan was deemed one of the poorest in the country, said rated the president high due to the latter's poverty reduction programs, which have been doubled compared with the previous administration, that have helped the Aklan people. The president has been very supportive also of the tourism thrust of the provincial government, he said.

Nava said he gave Aquino an 8 to 9 rating because his 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) has helped a lot of the poor.

Marañon, for his part, said he gave the president a 7.5 because he has been working to improve the country, and has acted against corruption in government resulting in more investments due to the trust and confidence of foreign investors in him.

All four governors agreed however that the drop in the president's trust and approval ratings, based on the recent Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys, was mainly because his projects were not well-publicized.

Aquino's programs and projects were not given enough publicity, which may explain why his popularity rating went down, Marañon said adding that previous administrations usually had signage with photos in infrastructure projects, while he does not even want his picture printed on the administration's projects and programs.

Nava added that a lot of changes has been done by the Aquino administration, and he hoped that it will end in the right direction. "When a new program is being implemented, there is always an opposition. Let us give the president a chance to prove his performance," he said.  (FREEMAN)