Senate President Franklin Drilon. PRIB FILE PHOTO
WITH a net satisfaction rating of +42, Senate President Franklin Drilon outscored both President Aquino and Vice President Jejomar Binay in the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey among the country’s top officials.
Drilon’s public satisfaction rating rose by 13 percent in the SWS survey covering Sept. 2-5 from the previous survey in June where he got a +29 public satisfaction rating. It was the highest satisfaction rating that Drilon got since becoming Senate President in 2013.
President Aquino’s performance received a 41 percent satisfaction rating compared to his previous rating 30 percent, while Binay’s net satisfaction rating dropped by nine percentage points to 33 percent from the previous 42 percent.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno also received a lower net satisfaction rating of +five and +four percent, respectively.
Reacting to his record high rating, Drilon thanked the public for their trust and support in his work in the Senate.
Drilon said he would try to ensure the work in the Senate will proceed even as the country prepares for the 2016 elections.
But the Senate president admitted to reporters the difficulty now of ensuring smooth Senate work given that out of the 24 senators, five were vying for vice president, one for president and six are reelectionists. Drilon himself is seeking reelection.
Still, he said they managed to get a quorum in every session. Congress goes on recess on Friday and will be back on Nov. 3.
“Our bills on third reading have been passed with a majority vote. We will just continue, will keep on struggling,” Drilon said.
Sen. Nancy Binay said a possible big factor in the drop in her father’s satisfaction rating could be the fact he was no longer a member of the Cabinet of President Aquino.
“He is no longer on top of housing and the overseas workers’ sectors. But the Vice President continues to help people but it’s really different now,” she told reporters.
But Binay’s camp chose to highlight that total satisfaction rating that Binay got, saying that 58 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with his work.
“The Vice President will continue with his provincial trips to directly talk with and listen to the people, and offer them a decisive, effective and inclusive governance,” she said.
Lower ratings for Binay were also shown in the recent Pulse Asia survey released last Oct. 1 which showed that the Vice President’s trust rating declined from 57 percent in June to 39 percent in September while his approval rating dropped to 43 percent from 58 percent in June.
In the SWS survey, the Senate also retained its “good” net score and increased by 11 points, from +33 (56 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in June to +44 (63 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied).
The net satisfaction rating of the House of Representatives also improved from +20 (44 percent satisfied, 24 percent dissatisfied) to +26 (48 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied).
The Supreme Court declined by five points, to a “moderate” +27 (50 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in this quarter from a “good” +32 (53 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied) last quarter.
The net score of the Cabinet as a whole remained “moderate” at +16 (40 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in the third quarter. With Inquirer Research