Binay gains highest approval, trust ratings among national officials
MANILA, Philippines – Eight in 10 Filipinos trust Vice President Jejomar Binay and approve of his performance in office, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Binay obtained an overall trust rating of 81 percent and an overall approval rating of 83 percent, unchanged from his ratings in the previous survey in March.
President Aquino registered trust and approval ratings of 71 percent, statistically unchanged from his trust and approval ratings (75 and 74 percent, respectively) in March.
The nationwide survey, conducted from May 21 to June 4 and released on Monday, was based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults, and was conducted using face-to-face interviews. It had an error margin of plus-or-minus three percentage points.
Other officials included in the survey were Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, with a 49 percent trust rating and 57 percent approval rating; House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. with a 33 percent trust rating and a 39 percent approval rating; and Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona with a 23 percent trust rating and a 28 percent approval rating.
Majorities across geographic areas expressed trust in President Aquino (56 percent to 76 percent) and Binay (74 percent to 84 percent).
The top two officials also enjoyed majority trust ratings in all socioeconomic classes (63 percent to 78 percent for the President and 74 percent to 83 percent for the Vice President).
On the other hand, Enrile obtained “near majority” trust ratings across geographic areas (48 percent to 50 percent) and socio-economic groupings (47 percent to 50 percent).
Belmonte recorded “practically the same” trust and indecision ratings in all geographic areas (32 percent to 39 percent versus 42 percent to 43 percent) and socioeconomic classes (31 percent to 48 percent versus 38 percent to 44 percent).
Public ambivalence toward Corona’s trustworthiness was expressed by 41 to 46 percent across geographic areas and 40 to 45 percent across socioeconomic groupings.
Both Enrile and Belmonte experienced a decline in their overall trust ratings between March and May – a drop of seven and 10 percentage points, respectively.
Public indecision toward Enrile’s trustworthiness also increased by nine percentage points during this period.
The other top government officials’ national ratings remained unchanged, but Pulse Asia noted significant changes since March across geographic and socioeconomic groupings.
Levels of public trust in President Aquino and Belmonte declined in Metro Manila, both by 13 percentage points.
President Aquino also experienced a drop of 14 points in his trust rating among Visayans.
Belmonte’s trust rating among members of the poorest class E decreased by 12 percentage points while public ambivalence toward Enrile’s trustworthiness jumped by 13 percentage points between March and May in Mindanao.
In terms of performance, President Aquino and Binay scored majority approval ratings in all geographic areas (57 percent to 79 percent and 72 percent to 89 percent, respectively) and socioeconomic classes (63 percent to 77 percent and 81 percent to 84 percent, respectively).
Enrile received approval ratings ranging from 54 to 61 percent in the geographic areas and 50 to 58 percent in the socioeconomic classes.
Belmonte and Corona obtained “non-majority” approval ratings across geographic areas (36 percent to 47 percent and 23 percent to 38 percent, respectively) and socio-economic classes (35 percent to 48 percent and 22 percent to 33 percent, respectively).
Between March and May, the only significant change in the performance ratings of the five government officials was the 11-percentage point decline in the national approval rating of Belmonte, Pulse Asia said.
Across geographic areas, Belmonte also experienced a drop in his approval ratings in the Visayas and Luzon outside of Metro Manila (a drop of 13 and 15 percentage points, respectively).
Belmonte’s approval rating also decreased by 13 percentage points among class E.
Public approval for the work done by President Aquino dropped in the Visayas between March and May by 15 percentage points.
