Binay slide continues in latest SWS poll

Vice President Jejomar Binay: New record low. CDN FILE PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

MANILA, Philippines–Vice President Jejomar Binay’s public satisfaction rating continued to decline, hitting a new record low in the last quarter of 2014, according to a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) report, which also noted lower scores for other top government officials.

At the same time, public satisfaction ratings of key state institutions fell, with the Cabinet suffering the biggest drop.

The survey, conducted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 last year, found 65 percent of the respondents saying they were satisfied with the performance of Binay while 20 percent said they were dissatisfied, for a “good” 44 net satisfaction rating (satisfied minus dissatisfied, rounded).

Before the survey last month, Binay’s lowest net rating was a “very good” 52 (70 percent satisfied minus 17 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded), logged in the third quarter of 2014.

By contrast, President Aquino’s rating, though still considered “good,” recovered from 34 in the third quarter of 2014 to 39 in the next quarter, results of the same survey released earlier showed.

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,800 adults nationwide and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points for national percentages. The survey was first reported in BusinessWorld.

SWS considers a rating of 70 and above “excellent”; 50 to 69, “very good”; 30 to 49, “good”; 10 to 29, “moderate”; 9 to negative 9, “neutral”; negative 10 to negative 29, “poor”; negative 30 to negative 49, “bad”; negative 50 to negative 69, “very bad”; and negative 70 and below, “execrable”.

In the 18 surveys since September 2010, Binay had eight “excellent,” nine “very good” and one “good” ratings. His best record was 76 notched in June 2013 and August 2012.

Binay camp elated

Despite the decline, the camp of Binay was elated that 65 percent of Filipinos were still satisfied with his performance.

“The results of the recent SWS survey clearly indicate that Vice President Binay has still the continued trust and full support of the Filipino people despite the intensified campaign of lies and pattern of deceit waged by his political detractors in the Senate to discredit his accomplishments and track record as a proven public servant,” said Rico Quicho, Binay’s new spokesman for political affairs.

Quicho was referring to the corruption allegations being hurled against Binay by former officials under him when he was mayor of Makati City.

Plunder complaints

Binay is also facing two plunder complaints in the Office of the Ombudsman for the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School.

Before the holiday break, the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee conducted an investigation of the corruption and ill-gotten wealth allegations against Binay, who reportedly owns an 8,877-square-meter lot in Makati and a 350-hectare agricultural farm in Rosario, Batangas province, worth billions of pesos. The inquiry will resume later this month.

Binay has denied any wrongdoing and blamed political foes for launching political attacks against him because he was seeking the presidency in 2016.

In a statement, Quicho said the Vice President remained grateful that people “still judge him by his work” despite the ongoing campaign to vilify him.

Quicho said Binay was optimistic “that the misinformation being peddled against him that affects public perception will soon end with majority of the Filipino people realizing that surmises and conjectures cannot be the substitute for the truth.”

The spokesman also said the Vice President was confident the allegations would not stand in court.

He said Binay remained focused and committed to address the needs of the poor and the nation.

The Vice President, according to a previous SWS report, is one of the “three best leaders” to succeed Aquino in 2016, with 37 percent of the 1,800 respondents picking him as the next president. He topped the survey with Sen. Grace Poe and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas trailing behind.

In a November Pulse Asia survey, Binay also led the pack of potential candidates for president with a 26-percent rating. However, this was down 5 percentage points from his previous 31 percent in September and 41 percent in July.

Other officials were also rated in the SWS survey.

Drilon, Belmonte, Sereno

Senate President Franklin Drilon’s net rating, which was downgraded from “good” to “moderate,” dropped by 8 points from 36 (58 percent satisfied negative 23 percent dissatisfied, rounded off) in September to 28 percent (53 percent satisfied minus 25 percent dissatisfied) last December.

The net score of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., though still “moderate,” likewise fell to 11 (36 percent satisfied minus 25 percent dissatisfied) in December from 13 (40 percent satisfied minus 27 percent dissatisfied) in the previous quarter.

Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno’s net rating, still “moderate,” was 11 (36 percent satisfied minus 26 percent dissatisfied, rounded off) in the fourth quarter, barely moving from 10 (37 percent satisfied minus 27 percent dissatisfied) in the third quarter.

Cabinet

Net satisfaction rating with the Cabinet was downgraded from “moderate” to “neutral,” as it decreased 9 points from 18 (43 percent satisfied minus 26 percent dissatisfied, rounded off) in September to 9 (37 percent satisfied minus 29 percent dissatisfied, rounded off) in December.

The Supreme Court’s rating was also down by one grade, from “good” plus 32 (54 percent satisfied minus 22 percent dissatisfied) September to “moderate” plus-26 (50 percent satisfied minus 24 percent dissatisfied) in December.

Net satisfaction with the House of Representatives hardly moved at 20 (45 percent satisfied minus 25 percent dissatisfied) in December from plus-21 (45 percent satisfied minus 24 percent dissatisfied). Both scores are “moderate.”

The Senate’s net satisfaction rating was still considered “moderate” but slipped plus-28 (53 percent satisfied minus 26 percent dissatisfied, rounded off) in September to plus-26 (53 percent minus 27 percent dissatisfied) in December.–Reports from Ana Roa, Inquirer Research and Christine O. Avendaño

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