Aquino blames Arroyo again for dip in satisfaction rating

By: Matikas Santos - 11 years ago

President Benigno Aquino III says his trip to South Korea will push through and blames his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for his dip in ratings in response to questions from the media during his visit to the NDRRMC office in Camp Aguinaldo where he was briefed by disaster agencies on the rescue and relief operations for victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Bohol, Cebu and other parts of Visayas and Mindanao earlier on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. Video by INQUIRER.net’s Matikas Santos

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III blamed the previous administration anew for the recent dip in his satisfaction ratings from a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Aquino admitted that the “pork barrel scam” issue did have an effect on his ratings but pointed the finger at the previous administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arrroyo because it occurred from 2007 to 2009.

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

“Who was sitting in Malacanang then? Not us,” Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview Tuesday in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) after he was briefed by disaster officials on the recent magnitude 7.2 quake in Bohol.

“So it’s like we’re being linked with each other because we’re all in government, perhaps,”Aquino said in Filipino.

He further said that more cases would be filed against the persons who liable for the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or more commonly known as pork barrel.

Some P10 billion pesos from the PDAF of several lawmakers went to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) allegedly established by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

“In time people will see what we are doing to stop the shamelessness that happened – from 2007 to 2010 were the worst,” he said.

“On the surveys, I have said before that we should not be governing based on ratings. We should be governing based on what is right, that is what should be our basis in making decisions,” Aquino added.