‘Barely passing’ for Aquino on poverty

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Despite his efforts aimed at curbing poverty, President Aquino received a “barely passing” mark in this aspect, according to a recent Pulse Asia survey.

Results of the June 2013 Ulat ng Bayan Survey, conducted on June 20 to July 4, showed that Aquino’s performance in poverty reduction earned an average grade of 75, which the think-tank described as “barely passing.”

Pulse Asia asked 1,200 adult respondents nationwide to rate the President’s performance in 11 national concerns on a scale of zero to 100, with 75 as the passing grade.

Lowest mark

Scores ranging from zero to 74 are classified as “completely failed,” 75 to 79 as “lowest pass,” 80 to 89 as “good,” 90 to 99 as “very good” and 100 as “perfect.”

Of the 11 concerns provided by Pulse Asia, the President received his lowest mark on the issue of reducing poverty.

He got his highest marks in managing the economy and ensuring the delivery of basic services, which both got a “good” 80.

In a similar survey in August 2011, Aquino received “basically the same passing grades on selected national issues as those he obtained in his first year in office,” Pulse Asia noted.

Aquino got an average grade of 79 in four key concerns: strengthening political institutions; promoting peace and order; forging diplomatic relations; and fighting graft and corruption in government.

He earned an average grade of 78 in issues that revolve around enforcing the law equally, fighting criminality and protecting the environment.

He got an average of 77 for his performance in “controlling fast population growth.”

As in the August 2011 survey, Aquino’s average grade on poverty reduction stood at 75.

His average marks were also unchanged in all issues except for a 1-percentage point gain on the issue of economic management and 1-percentage decline on the issue of equal law enforcement.

These changes are, however, statistically insignificant considering the survey’s error margin of plus-or-minus three percentage points.—Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research

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