Corona least trusted among top national officials, says latest poll

Chief Justice Renato Corona. INQUIRER file photo

Chief Justice Renato Corona, who is in danger of being ousted from the Supreme Court, was the least trusted among top national officials in government, results of the latest Pulse Asia survey showed.

Vice President Jejomar Binay is the most trusted national official.

Corona got a 29-percent overall trust rating in the nationwide survey on November 10 to 23, almost unchanged from 31 percent in August given the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Corona has been impeached and will be tried in the Senate for allegedly being partial to former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is under arrest for electoral sabotage, among other charges.

Pulse Asia said that 27 percent of 1,200 respondents distrusted Corona, a 6-percentage point increase which the pollster said was the “most marked movement” in the overall trust rating scores.

Results of the survey were released Tuesday.

Binay scored the highest trust rating at 83 percent ahead of President Aquino’s 74 percent, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s 59 percent and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s 41 percent.

The same survey showed most Filipinos trusted the Senate (51 percent) and the Supreme Court (53 percent), while only four in 10 Filipinos trust the House of Representatives (45 percent).

In terms of performance, less than half of Filipinos approved of Corona’s work (38 percent from 37 percent) while the Supreme Court, the institution he leads, got the approval of the majority (52 percent from 55 percent).

The approval ratings of Mr. Aquino, Binay and Enrile declined while Belmonte’s approval rating was unchanged at 45 percent.

Mr. Aquino’s approval rating dropped, although not statistically significant to 72 percent from 77 percent; Binay to 83 percent from 85 percent and Enrile to 60 percent from 65 percent.

Five in 10 Filipinos approved of the work being done by the Senate while 45 percent approved of the performance of the House of Representatives.

There were few significant changes in terms of the top officials’ performance across geographic and socioeconomic areas. These included the 15-percentage point drop in the approval rating of Enrile in the Visayas and the 13-percentage point increase in the level of indecision on his performance, also in the Visayas.

Also a significant change, Pulse Asia said, was the 13-percentage point decline among Class E in the level of indecision on the performance of Belmonte.

The majority across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes expressed trust in the top three officials: Mr. Aquino (68 percent to 87 percent); Binay (78 percent to 91 percent); and Enrile (54 percent to 63 percent).

In the Visayas, the President and Binay enjoyed a 13-point improvement in their trust ratings to 87 percent and 91 percent, respectively, while Enrile’s trust rating in Metro Manila declined 14 percentage points to 56 percent.

Belmonte’s only majority trust rating was given by those in Class ABC (51 percent). Ana Roa, Inquirer Research