Sereno biggest loser in trust, approval polls, but camp not surprised
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. RAFFY LERMA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
As her impeachment looms, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s approval and trust ratings suffered a two-digit drops, the highest among top officials of the country, a Pulse Asia survey revealed Friday.
In the latest Pulse Asia nationwide survey conducted from September 24 to 30, data showed that Sereno’s approval ratings plunged 13 percentage points—from 48 percent in June to 35 percent in September.
Her trust rating, meanwhile, dipped 12 percentage points from 43 to 31 percent in the same period.
The survey was conducted as an impeachment case against Sereno was filed before the House of Representatives.
The huge descent in her ratings was expected given all the “incessant attacks” against her, the chief justice’s spokesperson, lawyer Josa Deinla said.
READ: Sereno not losing sleep over battles: ‘I didn’t lie, cheat’
“The incessant attacks and vicious smear campaign against Chief Justice Sereno are expected to affect her net satisfaction ratings,” Deinla said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.
“For the past months, she has been publicly vilified to justify attempts to unseat her on the basis of unfounded allegations, which are not even impeachable offenses under the Constitution,” she added.
Last week, the House committee on justice ruled that it found “sufficient grounds” to impeach Sereno, even without discussing point-by-point the issues raised against her by lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon.
Deinla said that as the country’s top magistrate, Sereno will continue to “fulfill her duties and constitutional mandate regardless of survey results.”
“She remains confident that when all the facts are presented, the allegations being leveled against her–all being falsehoods–will ultimately crumble,” she noted.
A separate Social Weather Station survey showed that Sereno’s net satisfaction ratings also dropped 12 percentage points, from 21 percent in June to 9 percent in September.
The Pulse Asia survey also showed that President Rodrigo Duterte still has the majority of Filipino’s approval and trust: four out of five of the population continue to approve of and trust the chief executive, despite the string of issues of hurled against him. /idl
