President Benigno Aquino III’s net satisfaction rating has dropped yet again, but the man himself said his popularity was immaterial to him as long as he was doing his job.
According to the Social Weather Stations (SWS), the President’s net satisfaction rating slipped further to plus-46 in June from plus-51 in March and plus-64 in November 2010. The net satisfaction rating is the difference between the percentage of satisfied responses and the percentage of dissatisfied responses.
The results of the nationwide Second Quarter Social Weather report, which were posted on Tuesday on the SWS website, showed 64 percent of the respondents satisfied and 18 percent dissatisfied with the President’s performance.
“I’m really not that concerned with the popularity. It will go up and down,” Mr. Aquino told reporters after learning of the survey results that moved opposition lawmakers to gloat.
“What’s important for us at the end of the day is if we can face anybody and say we’re working instead of just trying to look good,” he said.
For instance, he said, government agencies had been responding to the flooding in Cotabato City since last week. He said he would personally look into the plight of residents there on Wednesday.
Increase in ABC
The survey, conducted on June 3-6, used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
The President said the drop in his ratings was not too worrisome. “One can argue that it’s almost in the margin of error,” he said.
SWS noted the declines in Mr. Aquino’s ratings in the Visayas, in Luzon outside Metro Manila, and among Classes D and E as possible reasons for the decline.
“Though his ratings increased by 9 points among Class ABC, this was not enough to offset the declines in other areas and classes, specifically in the Visayas, where his ratings went down by 9 points, and among Class D or the masa, where his ratings declined by 7 points,” Leo Laroza, survey research and communication specialist at SWS, told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Biggest among women
The respondents were asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they were in the President’s performance and to choose among the following responses: very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if satisfied or not, somewhat dissatisfied and very dissatisfied.
The biggest drop in Mr. Aquino’s net satisfaction rating was posted among women, where it slipped by 12 percentage points—from plus-55 in March to plus-43 in June (62 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied).
Among men, his rating was at plus-49 in June (67 percent satisfied, 17 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded), from plus-47 in March.
Across areas, net satisfaction with his performance was highest in Mindanao at plus-54 (71 percent satisfied, 17 percent dissatisfied), from plus-53 in March. In Metro Manila, it was at plus-43 (62 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied), from plus-41 in March.
However, the President’s ratings dropped by 9 percentage points in the Visayas, from last March’s plus-60 to plus-51 in June (67 percent satisfied, 17 percent satisfied, correctly rounded); and by 7 percentage points in Luzon outside Metro Manila, from plus-48 in March to plus-41 in June (60 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied).
Across socioeconomic classes, his rating was highest among members of Class ABC at plus-58 (74 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied), up by 9 percentage points from last March’s plus-49 net satisfaction rating. It was at plus-48 among the poorest Class E (66 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), from plus-50 in March.
But net satisfaction rating with Mr. Aquino’s performance also decreased by 7 percentage points among Class D—from plus-51 in March to plus-44 in June (63 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied).
It also declined in rural areas by 8 percentage points—from plus-55 in March to plus-47 in June (65 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied). In urban areas, it was at plus-45 in June (63 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), from last March’s plus-47.
Still ‘very good’
In a statement, Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that “while nationwide satisfaction ratings have slightly dipped, the figure remains in the very good range and historically, very high.”
“It is also noteworthy that the level of dissatisfaction did not increase nationally, remaining at 18 percent,” Lacierda said.
He said that across all classes (74 percent for ABC, 63 percent for D and 66 percent for E), and in all regions (67 percent in Metro Manila, 60 percent in “Balance Luzon,” 67 percent in the Visayas, and 71 percent in Mindanao), “the satisfaction rating according to SWS’ own standards, is very good.”
“In fact, for the socioeconomic ABC classes and Mindanao, the administration has achieved a rating of excellent,” he said.
Lacierda said the latest ratings should bewilder critics, “who have been drumbeating a ‘massive drop’ in the President’s and the administration’s satisfaction ratings from March to June.”
“As the administration marks its first year in office, it is heartening to note that it continues to receive the support of the broad public,” he said.