SURVEY: GMA APPROVAL RATING PLUNGES; ERAP: HER ONLY OPTION, TO RESIGN
MANILA, APRIL 15, 2008 (STAR) By Helen Flores - More than half of Filipinos are dissatisfied with President Arroyo’s performance, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported yesterday.
Mrs. Arroyo’s net satisfaction rating went down to –26 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to the survey, conducted from March 28 to 31.
Commenting on the survey, ousted President Joseph Estrada said Mrs. Arroyo might not recover from her deteriorating popularity.
“The only option left to her is to resign,” he said. “She failed in everything, especially in the government’s responsibility to ensure the people’s food security.”
Estrada said Mrs. Arroyo has only herself to blame for the continuing dive of her popularity rating.
“She blocked the impeachment case against her,” he said.
“The Constitution is clear, you can remove a president through impeachment, voluntary resignation and death. Impeachment is no longer an option because she is blocking it.
“What are we going to do? Wait for her to die by clubbing her? She should resign. That’s that only option left to her.”
The SWS survey found that 27 percent of those surveyed were satisfied and 54 percent dissatisfied with Mrs. Arroyo, for a net rating of –26.
Mrs. Arroyo’s first quarter net rating of –26 was a 10-percentage point fall from December 2007’s –16, and brings her back to 2005’s ratings range.
That year also recorded Mrs. Arroyo’s lowest score so far, a second quarter –33, the SWS said.
“The new net rating represents a drop by 10 points from her net –16 in December 2007 (32 percent satisfied, 48 percent dissatisfied),” the SWS said in a statement.
“ It is below her scores in the past two years, and is more akin to her ratings in 2005, which ranged between –12 and –33.”
The net satisfaction rating is the difference between the percentage of satisfied and unsatisfied responses.
The SWS said the decline in Mrs. Arroyo’s net satisfaction rating was mainly due to loss of support outside Metro Manila.
Her net rating declined by 13 points in Mindanao, to net –33 (26 percent satisfied, 59 percent dissatisfied) in March 2008, compared to –20 (30 percent satisfied, 49 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded) in December 2007, the SWS said.
It also declined by 13 points in balance Luzon, to net –25 (26 percent satisfied, 51 percent dissatisfied) in March, from net –12 (34 percent satisfied, 45 percent dissatisfied) last December.
Mrs. Arroyo’s rating turned double-digit negative in the Visayas, at net –15 (36 percent satisfied, 51 percent dissatisfied) in March, or six points below the single-digit negative of net –9 (35 percent satisfied, 44 percent dissatisfied) last December.
“The President’s very poor rating in Metro Manila, at net –37 (23 percent satisfied, 60 percent dissatisfied) in March, was about the same as the net –34 (25 percent satisfied, 59 percent dissatisfied) last December,” the SWS said.
The SWS said the decline in Mrs. Arroyo’s net rating “occurred more” in the rural areas.
“In rural areas, satisfaction with President Arroyo dropped from 34 percent to 28 percent, while dissatisfaction rose from 42 percent to 54 percent, bringing her rural net rating down by 18 points, from net –8 to –26,” SWS said.
In urban areas, satisfaction went from 30 percent to 27 percent, while dissatisfaction went from 53 percent to 54 percent, bringing her urban net rating down by only four points, from net –23 to –27, the SWS added.
The SWS said dissatisfaction with Mrs. Arroyo worsened among the D and E classes.
“The rating of President Arroyo worsened by 12 points among class E, to net –37 (23 percent satisfied, 60 percent dissatisfied) in March, from net –25 (26 percent satisfied, 51 percent dissatisfied) last December,” SWS said.
“It worsened by 11 points among the class D or ‘masa,’ to net –24 now (28 percent satisfied, 52 percent dissatisfied) compared to –13 (33 percent satisfied, 46 percent dissatisfied) in December.”
Mrs. Arroyo’s rating was least negative among the middle-to-upper ABC classes, at net –14 (34 percent satisfied, 48 percent dissatisfied) in March, or not as bad as the net –16 (35 percent satisfied, 51 percent dissatisfied) previously, SWS said.
The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages and plus or minus six percent for area percentages, the SWS said.
“The quarterly Social Weather Survey on public satisfaction with the President is a non-commissioned item, and is conducted on SWS’s own initiative and released as a public service, with first printing rights assigned to BusinessWorld,” SWS said.
Malacañang not surprised
The drop in the President’s satisfaction rating in the latest SWS survey did not surprise Malacañang.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that the decline in the satisfaction rating of Mrs. Arroyo outside of Metro Manila was expected since what is happening in the National Capital Region is also felt nationwide.
“Only through a strong economy can we improve the plight of the poor and that is exactly what the President and her administration are doing,” he said.
Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo will not be distracted from “working harder to ensure what matters most to the average Filipino” like food security, stable economy, good education and a clean and healthy environment.
“The most important thing for the President is results not poll numbers,” he said.
Bunye said while Mrs. Arroyo would like to get more credit for the many successes of her administration, she accepts the fact that political reform and tough choices would take their toll on her approval rating.
“I can assure you that the President would rather have results for the nation than accolades for herself,” he said.
Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo takes comfort in knowing that the “people are benefiting” from the reforms instituted by her administration.
“Our nation has a long way to go, but this is the first time in a generation that we have the resources to invest in the country and in our people,” he said.
On the other hand, deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said Mrs. Arroyo remains focused on governance and that a drop in her satisfaction ratings would not affect her performance.
“Considering the serious task of making presidential decisions that affect the many facets of governance, we are not surprised at the possibility of the rating of the President to drop,” she said. Fajardo said Mrs. Arroyo cannot be subjective in governance and has to consider the best interests of the nation in making decisions.
“We can’t expect everyone to be happy with it all the time,” she said.
Fajardo said in any decision made at Mrs. Arroyo’s level, dissatisfaction from some sectors is expected.
“The concerns of many of our people are personal, government can only do so much by balancing the personal and national interest,” she said.
‘Malacañang misleading public’
The United Opposition (UNO) said Malacañang’s call for a political ceasefire is meant to divert the public’s attention from allegations of massive corruption and incompetence in government.
“Agreeing to a political ceasefire would mean turning our backs on the mandate given to the opposition to be the watchdog of the people against corruption and misgovernance,” UNO spokesman lawyer Adel Tamano said in a statement.
“Of course we are willing to do our part in addressing our country’s political and economic problems but never at the expense of giving up the opposition’s duty of being the administration’s critic.”
Tamano’s statement was in response to Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde’s call on the political opposition to agree to a political ceasefire to help find a solution to the rice problem.
The rice problem would worsen in the coming weeks as prices of fuel and other food items are due to go up, Remonde said.
‘GMA has only herself to blame’
Mrs. Arroyo has no one else to blame but herself over her low dissatisfaction ratings in the SWS survey, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday.
“If true, dissatisfaction over her corrupt policies is beginning to sink in among rural folk too. Maybe she needs a Nostradamus to persuade her the end is near!” he said.
On the other hand, Sen. Loren Legarda said the Philippines risks losing foreign direct investments (FDI) due to international perception of worsening corruption in the country.
“In a nutshell, it means foreign investors wary of corruption and an unfavorable business climate in our country are bringing their money elsewhere,” she said.
Legarda said the billions lost to corruption, estimated by the World Bank at P30 billion a year, could have been translated into investments in education, health, infrastructure, research and development and livelihood assistance.
“Being tagged as a corrupt country entails the hesitation of foreign investors to invest in our country. This hesitation will translate to lower FDIs and, consequently, lower economic activities,” she said.
Legarda said the World Bank has reported that an average of 20 to 30 percent of every contract in the Philippines is lost to corruption or inefficiency.
“Corruption directly impacts all Filipinos as they divert money away from projects that should benefit them, wastes taxpayers’ money and leads to a stagnant economy,” she said.
Legarda said based on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, the Philippines scored 3.3 in 1998, 2.6 in 2004 and 2.5 in 2007.
The lower the CPI value, the more corrupt a country is seen by the international community, she added.
Legarda said corruption scandals have also tainted numerous official development assistance (ODA) projects, with the Commission on Audit reporting in 2006 that at least 38 foreign-assistance projects had not complied with the procurement law and auditing rules.
Unliquidated cash advances, absence of inventories, overstatement of accounts and delays were among the irregularities cited by COA, she added.
Of the ODAs examined, four infrastructure projects worth P101 million were suspended, land acquisitions totaling P36 million were found unnecessary and overpriced, while double or excess payments of various transactions worth P273.4 million were discovered, Legarda said. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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