Sotto gets ‘VG’ net satisfaction rating; Robredo, Gesmundo, Velasco get ‘neutral’ – SWS

Satisfaction with next top officials, Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III received a “very good” net satisfaction rating while Vice President Leni Robredo, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco all obtained “neutral” in the latest trust and approval rating of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The fourth quarter 2021 SWS survey released to the public on Friday showed that 65 percent of the respondents were satisfied with Sotto’s performance as top leader of the Senate while 14 percent were dissatisfied, for a net score of +52.

For Robredo, 41 percent were satisfied with her performance as second-highest leader of the country while 40 percent were dissatisfied, for a net score of +1. Gesmundo, as head of the Supreme Court, garnered 26 percent (satisfied) and 20 percent (dissatisfied) for a +7 score while Velasco, as top leader of the House of Representatives, got 29 percent (satisfied) and 24 percent (dissatisfied), for +5 score.

The survey, which was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults from December 12-16, 2021, also showed that Robredo had the biggest loss in terms of net satisfaction rating.  The Vice President had a +24 score in September 2021, which meant that she suffered a 23 point-decrease in the latest survey.

Velasco also lost points, from +8 in September 2021 to +5 in December, while Gesmundo gained points, from a net satisfaction score of +2 in September to +7.

Sotto recorded the biggest jump in satisfaction ratings among the said officials, from a +46 score in September 2021 to +52 in December.

Still, it is lower than President Rodrigo Duterte’s +8 increase in net satisfaction ratings based on the SWS survey released last February, jumping from +52 in September 2021 to +60 in December.

READ: SWS: Duterte gets ‘very good’ satisfaction rating

SWS explained that Robredo had the biggest decrease in satisfaction ratings because her score fell down in all locales — Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and especially in Mindanao.

Mindanao is considered the bailiwick of Duterte, who hails from Davao, and whose policies have been criticized heavily by the Vice President.

“The 23-point decline in the overall net satisfaction rating of Vice President Robredo was due to decreases in all areas, especially in Mindanao.  Vice-President Robredo’s net satisfaction rating fell from neutral to poor in Metro Manila, down from +1 in September 2021 to -16 in December 2021,” SWS explained.

“It stayed moderate in Balance Luzon, although down from +24 in September to +10 (correctly rounded) in December. It fell from good to moderate in the Visayas, down from +47 (correctly rounded) in September to +27 (correctly rounded) in December. It fell from moderate to poor in Mindanao, down from +20 in September to -27 (correctly rounded) in December,” it added.

Sotto’s numbers, on the other hand, were up due to increases in all areas except in Mindanao, where his opponent in the vice presidential race, Duterte’s daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, comes from.

“The 6-point increase in the overall net satisfaction rating of Senate President Sotto was due to increases in all areas except Mindanao.  Senate President Sotto’s net satisfaction rating rose from good to very good in Metro Manila, up from +49 (correctly rounded) in September to +53 in December,” SWS noted.

“It also rose from good to very good in Balance Luzon, up from +47 in September to +56 (correctly rounded) in December. It stayed very good in the Visayas, up from +51 in September to +63 in December. It stayed good in Mindanao, although down slightly from +37 in September to +31 in December,” it added.

INQUIRER.net has sought the comments of Sotto, Robredo, and Velasco regarding this latest SWS poll but none of them has issued a statement about the survey yet.  Sotto said the has not yet seen the latest SWS survey.

SWS said the fourth quarter survey involved 360 respondents per locale.  The polling firm said they are maintaining sampling error margins of ±2.6% for the national percentages, and ±5.2% for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

KGA