MANILA, Philippines -- Filipinos are satisfied with 15 of the 20 programs of the administration but are still dissatisfied with the President herself, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered her State of the Nation Address showed.

The survey, conducted among 1,200 respondents nationwide on July 13-17, showed the President had a net satisfaction rating of negative 50. Her administration, on the other hand, had a net satisfaction rating of negative 24.

Administration Rep. Danilo Suarez of Quezon, who commissioned the survey, blamed the media and the political opposition for the seemingly conflicting results.

Suarez said he commissioned the survey to verify the findings of the House committee on oversight which showed Ms Arroyo delivered on eight of the 10 items on the agenda she outlined in 2004.

Traffic signs good

The SWS survey showed the Arroyo administration scored the highest points for the installation of adequate traffic signs, with a net satisfaction rating of positive 52 (70 percent satisfied and 18 percent dissatisfied).

It also got positive net satisfaction ratings on the repair of major roads (+49), helping victims of natural disasters (+48), protecting the environment (+28), foreign relations (+27), lowering water rates (+21), lowering cell phone rates (+21);

Reconciliation with Muslim rebels (+20), helping the poor (+19), implementing housing programs for the poor (+18), fighting crime (+17), fighting terrorism (+15), lowering electricity rates (+15), collecting enough taxes to avoid borrowing for services like education (+7), and ensuring affordable medicines (+6).

The respondents were dissatisfied with the government’s performance in keeping promises (-23), fighting inflation (-22), ensuring no family will ever go hungry and have nothing to eat (-19), eradicating graft and corruption (-13), and prosecuting tax cheats (-4).

“If she passed with flying colors on 15 out of 20, which is the duty of the President in addressing the issues of national concern, why is her popularity so bad? The committee had an answer to that,” Suarez said in a news conference.

“Our belief is that when you open your radio and when you read the broadsheets and when you watch TV from six in the morning up to the wee hours, the high rating programs hit the administration every day,” he said.

Suarez said that with the 2010 elections fast approaching, some media groups and potential candidates believe criticizing the administration is one sure way of getting their own popularity ratings to pick up.

The SWS survey showed Sen. Francis Escudero having a net satisfaction rating of +64, Senate President Manuel Villar with +57, Vice President Noli de Castro with +30, and Chief Justice Reynato Puno with a positive five.

Speaker Prospero Nograles had a net dissatisfaction rating of -16 and Suarez, negative eight.

The Senate had a net satisfaction rating of +15; the Supreme Court, +8, and the House of Representatives, zero.

Noli slips

Another survey, this one noncommissioned, showed Vice President Noli de Castro slipping 10 points in his performance rating, or from plus 47 in the first quarter to plus 37 in the second quarter.

The rating, however, was still quite high, with 60 percent satisfied and 23 percent dissatisfied.

Nograles, who took over the speakership earlier this year, had the lowest net satisfaction rating of minus 15, with 18 percent satisfied and 34 percent dissatisfied. His rating in the previous quarter was minus 12.

The net ratings of Villar and Puno remained more or less the same. Villar had a plus 52 rating (66 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied, Puno received a plus 3 rating (30 percent satisfied, 27 percent dissatisfied).

Satisfaction with top government institutions were also about the same. The Senate got a plus 27, the House of Representatives, plus 10; the Supreme Court, plus 6, and the Cabinet, minus 9. With Cyril L. Bonabente, Inquirer Research