HANDS-ON CAMPAIGN Vice President Jejomar Binay (left) with Bulacan SWAT’s Senior Insp. Sean Logronio and United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate, former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas, during a visit to Bustos, Bulacan, on Wednesday. RAFFY LERMA
Vice President Jejomar Binay recovered from his record-low ratings in September last year, as his approval and trust scores rose by 9 and 10 percentage points last month, according to a Pulse Asia survey.
Results of the survey released Wednesday also found that only President Aquino enjoyed both majority approval and trust ratings among the top government officials in the last quarter of 2015, and that none of the three government institutions obtained a majority approval rating.
Out of 1,800 registered voter respondents nationwide, 55 percent of them approved of Mr. Aquino’s performance, a point up from 54 percent in September.
Trust in the President also improved by four points from 49 percent to 53 percent.
The survey, which used face-to-face interviews, was conducted on Dec. 4-11 and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.
The Vice President’s approval score rose to 52 percent from 43 percent in September, while his trust rating increased to 49 percent from 39 percent.
Reason for surge
Explaining the surge in the survey numbers of her father, Sen. Nancy Binay said people may be starting to realize the heaps of accusations hurled against the Vice President since last year were nothing but attacks against his person and just lies.
Buoyed by the much-improved trust and approval ratings of her father in the latest Pulse Asia survey, Senator Binay said people who got to see the Vice President personally realized the negative “portrayals” against him were much different from his character.
The Vice President, along with his son Junjun Binay, is accused of corruption and of amassing ill-gotten wealth in connection with his long years as mayor of Makati City.
Asked whether the big ad spending of her father also helped, Senator Binay admitted that it was just a “component,” saying the improved survey numbers were a “combination of everything.”
She noted that her father made it a point to go around the country constantly and to have “face-to-face contacts” with people.
The senator was interviewed by reporters in Bustos, Bulacan province, where she accompanied her father in going around the schools and public market there.
The Vice President was in Bustos mainly to witness the oath-taking of new members of his party, the United Nationalist Alliance.
Across areas, approval of the Vice President’s performance went up, increasing in the Visayas (49 percent from 36 percent), Mindanao (52 percent from 44 percent), the rest of Luzon (55 percent from 47 percent) and Metro Manila (46 percent from 41 percent).
Among Class E, Binay’s approval rose 20 percentage points (66 percent from 46 percent). It increased 5 points among Class D (49 percent from 44 percent) but stayed the same among Classes ABC (30 percent from 31 percent).
Binay’s trust ratings improved in Metro Manila (46 percent from 38 percent) and Mindanao (49 percent from 43 percent), with double-digit increases in Visayas (43 percent from 31 percent) and the rest of Luzon (52 percent from 42 percent).
Likewise, Binay improved his trust ratings among Class E (62 percent from 44 percent), Class D (46 percent from 40 percent) and Classes ABC (31 percent from 26 percent).
President’s approval
Mr. Aquino’s approval increased across areas, improving in Mindanao (62 percent from 59 percent) and the rest of Luzon (50 percent from 47 percent) and staying the same in Metro Manila (42 percent from 41 percent). It declined in the Visayas from 71 percent to 68 percent.
The President’s approval likewise went up among Class E (67 percent from 59 percent) but declined among Classes ABC (44 percent from 49 percent) and was unchanged among Class D (52 percent).
Mr. Aquino posted higher trust ratings in Metro Manila (42 percent from 36 percent), the rest of Luzon (48 percent from 43 percent) and Mindanao (61 percent from 57 percent), and stayed the same in Visayas (64 percent from 65 percent).
Trust in the President also went up among Class E (64 percent from 54 percent) and Class D (51 percent from 49 percent) but stayed similar among Class ABC (43 percent from 44 percent).
Drilon, Belmonte, Sereno
The approval rating of Senate President Franklin Drilon increased by 1 point, from 50 percent to 51 percent, and his trust rating remained at 47 percent.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. saw drops in his approval rating from 32 percent to 29 percent, and his trust rating from 29 percent to 24 percent.
Approval of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno’s performance remained at 29 percent, while trust in her was at 25 percent, from 26 percent, in September.
The Senate posted a 47-percent approval, up from 44 percent in September. Approval of the performances of the House of Representatives was at 40 percent from 39 percent, while the Supreme Court’s approval declined to 45 percent from 49 percent.