Pulse Asia: Majority approve of, trust Aquino, Binay, Enrile

President Benigno Aquino III and Vice-President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

President Benigno Aquino, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile enjoyed majority approval and trust ratings last month, results of a survey by Pulse Asia showed.

By contrast, most Filipinos distrusted and disapproved of the performance of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The survey was conducted nationwide from May 20 to 26 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents.

Mr. Aquino scored an approval rating of 67 percent (from 70 percent in March) while Binay got 81 percent (from 84 percent).

Corona got a disapproval rating of 60 percent (from 58 percent).

In Metro Manila, the President’s approval rating dipped 11 points to 57 percent and the number of those undecided on his performance rose by 10 points to 31 percent.

“The double-digit decline in the approval ratings of President Aquino (-11 percentage points) … in Metro Manila, as well as the double-digit increase in the level of indecision toward presidential performance recorded among Metro Manilans (+10 percentage points) fall short of being significant in light of the plus-minus 6 percentage points margin of error in the different geographic areas,” Pulse Asia said.

Pulse Asia used a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for national data and plus or minus 6 percentage points for regional data.

For his part, Binay got his biggest approval rating of 84 percent in Metro Manila and among Class E.

The national sentiment over Corona’s performance was mirrored across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes with Mindanao giving him the biggest disapproval rating of 67 percent.

Most trusted

In terms of trust ratings, Binay is still the most trusted among top national officials. He got an overall trust rating of 78 percent (from 80 percent in March).

Mr. Aquino earned a trust rating of 65 percent (from 69 percent) while Enrile scored 62 percent (from 63 percent).

Sixty-five percent expressed distrust in Corona.

By geographical areas and socioeconomic classes, a majority expressed trust in

Mr. Aquino (from 57 percent to 68 percent), Binay (from 66 percent to 80 percent) and Enrile (from 54 percent to 76 percent).

Reacting to the results of Pulse Asia’s latest survey, Malacañang noted that no other President in recent history had enjoyed popularity and acceptance for so long into his or her term than Mr. Aquino.

“This fact only fuels our determination to make inclusive growth a reality for our countrymen, and to give them a government that is truly in their service. Moving forward, our administration will remain steadfast toward fulfilling our social contract with the Filipino people,” said Edwin Lacierda, Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson.

Culture of good governance

Lacierda is unfazed by the President’s approval rating going down 3 percentage points.

“The Filipino people’s confidence in President Aquino remains strong. In the recent Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan, the President’s nationwide performance approval rating for the second quarter of 2012 is at 67 percent while his trust rating is at 65 percent,” Lacierda said at a news briefing in Malacañang.

“This figure, statistically unchanged from the last quarter, is indicative of public support for President Aquino’s programs and initiatives, and is continued affirmation of his efforts to establish a culture of good governance in the public sector,” he added.

Lacierda said that with what transpired in the past few months, “it shows that the Filipino people fully support the campaign to clean up the government and to revitalize our institutions.”

“We are reaping the dividends of reform: Our country’s GDP  grew by 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012, beating the best estimates on GDP growth for this quarter,” he said.

He said government efforts to invest in Filipinos had not gone unnoticed, noting that criticism of the President’s antipoverty agenda had significantly gone down, from 31 percent in May 2011 to just 15 percent in May 2012.

“We will not stop while we are ahead. The Department of Budget and Management has released P5.5 billion this month for the implementation of the President’s resettlement program, which will provide for the housing requirements of thousands of informal settlers and families living in high-risk or calamity-stricken areas,” he said.

Enrile

Malacañang is also fine with Enrile overtaking Mr. Aquino in the trust ratings and coming second to Vice President  Binay.

“It does not affect us. We are happy for the numbers of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who, by all accounts, has done a yeoman’s job of handling the Senate impeachment trial,” Lacierda said.

Distrust in Corona was the majority sentiment across geographical areas and socioeconomic classes, with Mindanao giving him a 75-percent distrust rating.

During the survey and immediately before it was conducted, the impeachment trial of Corona resumed. He took the witness stand on May 22 and May 25 to answer allegations against him.

Pulse Asia said all survey interviews were already completed by the time the impeachment court voted 20-3 to convict Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution. His conviction resulted in his dismissal from office.

The Senate, House of Representatives and Supreme Court recorded almost the same approval and trust ratings from two months ago.

The Senate’s approval rating was 48 percent in May. It was 45 percent for the House and 44 percent for the Supreme Court.

Public trust in the Senate was 44 percent. The rating for the House stayed at 41 percent. The Supreme Court’s rating was also 41 percent. Reports by Ana Roa, Inquirer Research; Maila Ager, INQUIRER.net; and Norman Boradora, PDI

Originally posted at 12:34 pm | Wednesday, June 6, 2012