Aquino approval rating down

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The approval rating of President Benigno Aquino III went down by six percentage points, getting 73 percent in December 2013 from his previous approval rating of 79 percent in September, Pulse Asia said.

The survey conducted from December 8 to 15, 2013 showed that Aquino also got a trust rating of 74 percent, down by 2 percentage points from 76 percent in September.

Pulse Asia, however, made a disclaimer that the movements “fall short of being considered significant” in light of the survey’s overall error margin of +/- 3 percentage points.

The survey, however, showed that while Aquino’s ratings declined, Vice President Jejomar Binay went up.

Binay got an approval rating of 80 in December, which was up three notches from 77 in September.

His trust rating also went up to 77 in December from 74 in September.

Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drillon’s  approval rating went down  to 43 from September’s 50 while his trust ratings plunged from 46 in September to 40 in December.

Pulse Asia said the Pork barrel controversy has greatly affected the public’s perception on Drillon’s rating.

Also, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. registered an approval rate of 43 percent from 37 percent and trust rating of 38 percent from 34 percent while Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, on the other hand, got an approval rating of 44 percent from 42 percent and a trust rating of 41 percent from 40 percent.

Government institutions were also rated in December.

The Supreme Court got a majority approval rating of 52 percent, although this was lower than last September’s 53.

The Senate registered an approval rating of 45 percent in December from September’s 39 percent.

The House of Representatives, meanwhile, got a five percentage increase from 37 in September to 42 in December.

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