Noli tops government approval survey

Published in Philstar.com

By Helen Flores Updated June 09, 2009 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Noli de Castro has remained as the country’s top performing and most trusted government official in the country while President Arroyo continued to receive the highest disapproval rating, a recent survey by Pulse Asia revealed yesterday.

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Mrs. Arroyo received the highest disapproval rating among top government officials, with 46 percent of Filipinos saying they disapprove of her performance.

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Twenty-six percent of Filipinos approved Mrs. Arroyo’s performance while 27 percent were undecided.

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“Relatively low public approval for President Arroyo (26 percent) has remained much the same across most of the past four years,” Pulse Asia said.

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In Pulse Asia’s May 2009 Ulat ng Bayan survey, Filipinos are most appreciative of the performance of De Castro, at 53 percent. Twenty-one percent disapproved hisperformance while 26 percent were undecided.

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Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s approval rating went from 34 percent in February to 32 percent in May.

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Twenty-six percent disapproved his performance while 40 percent were undecided.

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As for Speaker Prospero Nograles, he posted an even lower approval rating of 20 percent.

Thirty-four percent disapproved of his performance while 42 percent were undecided.

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In the case of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, his approval rating remained at 34 percent, 25 percent disapproved his performance and 38 percent were undecided.

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The non-commissioned survey, conducted from May 4 to 17, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults aged 18 years old and above.

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De Castro continued to enjoy the highest approval rating (41 percent to 63 percent) while Mrs. Arroyo posted the highest disapproval rating (43 percent to 60 percent) in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes, Pulse Asia said.

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Between February and March 2009, public disapproval for presidential performance increased in the Visayas (+10 percentage points) and Class ABC (+16 percentage points) while presidential indecision ratings declined in the best-off Class ABC (-10 percentage points), Pulse Asia said.

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In the case of De Castro’s ratings, the most marked movement during this period is the eight-percentage point increase in his disapproval ratings in the Visayas (+8 percentage points), it said.

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Enrile’s approval figures dropped by 17 percentage points while disapproval ratings increased by 11 percentage points in the Visayas.

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A 12-percentage point increase in Nograles’ indecision ratings may also be noted in the poorest Class E.

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In the case of Puno, improvements were noted in his approval ratings in Mindanao and Class E (+12 percentage points) while public ambivalence toward his work becomes more pronounced in Metro Manila (+12 percentage points) but less manifested in the Visayas (-10 percentage points).

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There was also an increase (-12 percentage points) in the disapproval ratings of Puno in the Visayas.

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Pulse Asia said that while there are no significant changes in the overall performance ratings of these leading government officials between February and May 2009, there is a slight decline in the overall level of public appreciation (-5 percentage points) and a corresponding increase in the level of public indecision toward the performance of Nograles.

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The survey showed that public trust is the predominant sentiment only in the case of De Castro while public distrust is most pronounced in the case of Mrs. Arroyo.

It said big pluralities of Filipinos could not say if they trust or distrust Enrile, Nograles and Puno.

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De Castro received the highest overall trust rating (48 percent) among the country’s top government officials.

In contrast, Mrs. Arroyo garnered 25 percent trust rating, registering the highest disapproval of 48 percent.

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Nograles obtained the lowest overall trust rating (17 percent) while De Castro has the lowest overall distrust score (22 percent).

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Both Puno and Enrile got a trust rating of 28 percent.

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“For the most part, the overall trust ratings of these top government officials remain constant between February and May 2009,” the pollster said.

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Nonetheless, it said there is a marginal drop (-4 percentage points) in the overall trust ratings of De Castro and Nograles and a slight increase in the overall level of public ambivalence toward the House Speaker (+5 percentage points).

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De Castro is the most trusted top national government official across geographic areas and socio-economic groupings (38 percent to 57 percent) while Mrs. Arroyo is the most distrusted in most of these sub-groupings (42 percent to 67 percent).

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Mrs. Arroyo and Nograles obtained nearly the same distrust ratings in the rest of Luzon (43 percent versus 39 percent).

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Between February and May 2009, Mrs. Arroyo’s distrust ratings in class ABC and the Visayas went up by 12 and 13 percentage points, respectively, Pulse Asia said.

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Meanwhile, De Castro’s indecision ratings dropped (-13 percentage points) and his distrust ratings increased (+18 percentage points) in the Visayas.

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Enrile’s trust ratings also declined in Class ABC and the Visayas (-10 and -14 percentage points, respectively) while public indecision became more pronounced (+11 percentage points) in the Visayas between February and May 2009.

Same results

Malacañang reiterated that the poor ratings of President Arroyo in the performance surveys would not affect her focus on governing the country.

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Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo noted that the survey results have generally been the same over the past years so the latest numbers were not at all surprising for the Palace.

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However, Fajardo said that the perceptions raised in the surveys do not necessarily reflect the actual view of the people on the President.

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Fajardo pointed out that the people are generally appreciative of Mrs. Arroyo and that this has been seen in all her sorties in the provinces and outside the country.

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She added that surveys only gather the opinions of a small percentage of the population so these do not serve as accurate guide to the true pulse of the people. – With Marvin Sy, AP

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Binay's Rising

Here is the News about our Philippine Presidentiables

from ManilaStandardToday

Published: June 24, 2009

Makati City’s feisty Mayor Jejomar “Jojo” Binay was the biggest surprise in the list of the leading “senatoriables”, according the May 4-17 survey of Pulse Asia.

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In fact, out of the top 14 with a statistical chance of winning if the May 2010 were held today, Binay and lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel were the only non-returning senator.

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Pimentel was expected to be in the list of respondents’ favorites since he placed 13th in the 2007 national elections. He enjoys good name recall, his father being the outstanding incumbent Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel.

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Binay was the real revelation, ranking 9-14, ahead even of Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon (ranked 10-15) and Senate President Juan “Johnny” Ponce Enrile (11-17).

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The range in the ranking reflects the margin of error of plus or minus 3 of the survey which was based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above.

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Aside from Binay and Koko Pimentel, the rest of the top 14 are all seasoned political personalities.

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Topping the list is Senator Mar Roxas (ranked 1-2). He is followed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada (1-6), Senator Pia Cayetano (2-7), Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago (2-7), Senator Bong Revilla (2-8), Senator Jamby Madrigal (2-8) , ex-Senator Franklin Drilon (3-8), ex-Senator and Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto (3-8), Atty. Koko Pimentel (8-12), Mayor Jojo Binay (9-13) ex-Senator and Dangerous Drugs Board chair Tito Sotto (9-14), ex-Senator Serge Osmeña (9-14), Senator Dick Gordon (10-15), and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (11-17).

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Just outside the top 14 are Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano (13-19) and ex-Rep. and top broadcaster Ted Failon.

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Of all the re-electionist senators, only Senator Lito Lapid is outside the “winning circle”. Lapid, who would probably go back to Pampanga and run for governor again, is ranked 15-20 with a percentage point of 19.8 compared to Binay’s 30.5 percentage point.

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Binay’s feat is made more remarkable by the fact that he outranked many other high-profile personalities like the “noisy” Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada (19-29). The survey was conducted when Lozada was in the news because of his arrest on perjury charges.

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Binay did better than Rep. Satur Ocampo (32-48), Gov. Grace Padaca (32-48), Speaker Prospero Nograles (32-51), Gov. Ed Panlilio (33-54), Foreign Affairs Secretary and ex-Senator Bert Romulo (34-58), Boboy “Mr. Tesda” Syjuco (44-61), ex-Rep. Butch Abad (44-61) and Black and White Movement leaders Leah Navarro (49-64) and Dinky Soliman (46-61).

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But despite his excellent showing in the Pulse Asia survey, Binay was lukewarm to the idea of running for senator. In an interview we had with him over our radio program Karambola sa dwIZ, Binay said his expertise and preference is the executive. This of course is undisputable with his record in Makati which is the envy of all local government executives.

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It was clear from that Binay interview that he was setting his eyes on running for president. Or, if former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada pursues his plans to run for president again, he will be Erap’s running mate.

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The same Pulse Asia May 2009 Ulat ng Bayan survey showed that Binay’s vice-presidential bid is getting some national attention.

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Binay registered the highest increase among the 10 vice-presidential wannabes included in the Pulse Asia list of 10 personalities. His rating increased by four percentage points compared to his survey results last February.

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Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero leads the list of vice-presidential bets with 24 percentage points, followed by Senator Loren Legarda (21 percent) and Vice President Noli de Castro (17 percent).

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Aside from the three, the only other individual to score a double-digit preference is Binay with 10 percent.

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Binay did better than declared vice-presidential candidate Senator Francis Pangilinan (nine percent), Senator Bong Revilla (four percent), Senator Dick Gordon (two percent), and Gov. Grace Padaca (one percent).

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Binay’s creditable performance in both the senatorial and vice-presidential surveys of Pulse Asia is probably a reflection of the public reaction to the “ganito kami sa Makati” television advertising which ran as part of the 339th founding anniversary of the city, acknowledged as the business capital of the Philippines.

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The ad is the most compelling and the most powerful among the political ad campaign of the presidential hopefuls since it talks about solid and measurable achievements of Makati to its people.

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The Makati anniversary ad campaign talks about the services given by Makati City in terms education and health as well as services to senior citizens who are treated to cash gifts twice a year, a birthday cake, free movies among others. The ad was the expression of the Makati anniversary celebration theme: “Celebrate Progress and Service to the People”.

Typically Filipino humor, some wit had put together the ads of presidential aspirants Manny Villar and Mar Roxas with Binay’s Makati ad into one story. The story goes that the battered and abused migrants whom Villar helped bring back to the Philippines were fetched at the airport by Roxas in his “padyak” pedicab and brought to Binay’s Makati where they were treated to the health, education and other excellent basic services given to Makati residents.

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If Binay succeeds and gets elected to a higher political office, he would be trail blazing for the country’s ethnic minority, something that his supporters liken to the story of the first African-American president of the United States, Barack Obama.

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Few people are aware that Binay has his ethnic roots in Cabagan, Isabela, where his mother surnamed Cabauatan was born. Binay is proud that he is an Ibanag. He speaks the dialect, he knows the tradition and culture, and certainly his dark skin and diminutive size makes his ethnic roots unmistakable.

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In fact, he is proud of his dark brown complexion. When we interviewed him about the survey, he referred to my Karambola co-host Abakada-Guro sectoral Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz as his “cousin”.

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I know that they are both from the north but I did not know they were related. I asked Binay how he was related to Jonath and he explained he and Jonath were “kasing kulay” (of the same skin color).

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The Pulse Asia survey clearly shows that Binay is one of the rising stars of Philippine politics. If the trend continues, then perhaps we will have the first ‘black” president or vice president or senator in Binay.

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