MANILA, Philippines – Both the approval and trust ratings of the Senate and the House of Representatives dropped by at least 14 percentage points following the “pork barrel” controversy, a recent Pulse Asia survey said.

The September 14 to 27 poll showed that the Senate’s approval rating dropped from 53 percent in June to 39 percent last month. This is mirrored by the15 percent point dip in the House of Representatives’ approval rating, from 52 percent to 37 percent.

Similar movements were seen in the trust ratings of the two chambers of Congress. Senate’s trust rating went down from 51 percent to 36 percent while the House of Representatives’ dipped from 53 percent to 34 percent.

“The controversy regarding the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of several lawmakers appears to have adversely affected public opinion regarding the performance and trustworthiness of both the Senate and House of Representatives,” Pulse Asia said in its report.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continued to have the approval of the Filipinos with a rating of 53 percent amid a four percentage point drop. Its trust rating was at 50 percent, down from 55 percent in June.

Included in the survey were the performance and trust ratings of the country’s top five government officials: the president, vice president, Senate president, Speaker and chief justice.

Of the five, Senate President Franklin Drilon received the highest drop in approval ratings, from 62 percent in June to 50 percent in September.

While the performance of the other officials remained “basically unchanged,” Pulse Asia said the PDAF controversy has also “adversely affected public perception of Senate President Drilon’s performance.”

The nationwide survey involved interviews with 1,200 adult Filipinos. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level while area estimates (Metro Manila, rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level.

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