Aquino satisfaction rating ‘affirms mandate for change’

MANILA -- The latest survey showing public satisfaction for President Benigno Aquino III soaring to 77 percent validates the brand of leadership the administration espoused to achieve significant changes in institutions and governance, said a Palace official on Friday.

The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted on 1,200 respondents nationwide on August 24-27 showed Aquino's net satisfaction score rose 25 points to a "very good" +67, from the "good" +42 three months earlier.

Seventy-seven percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the President’s performance, up from 63 percent in May. Those who said they were not satisfied accounted for 10 percent, which is an improvement from the previous record of 21 percent.

The result of the latest survey is the highest rating so far for Aquino’s administration since he assumed office in 2010. The SWS Third Quarter survey utilized sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national and ±6 percent for area percentages.

"The consistently strong numbers affirm the President's mandate for change; they are tangible indicators of the people's support for the difficult yet necessary reforms the President has championed since Day One," Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

He added that since the first SWS Survey on public satisfaction in September 2010, the President's ratings have not dipped below 63 percent and have increased to the current high of 77 percent.

Lacierda said the SWS ratings are indicative of sustained satisfaction in the performance of Aquino.

"These results mirror the strong showing of the Philippines, especially with respect to its institutions and governance, in the recent Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum," he said.

He added that the international community has recognized the reform initiatives of the Aquino administration and at home, the embodiment of positive change is President Aquino himself.

"The results of these surveys, both within and beyond our borders, validate the brand of leadership that the President has continuously espoused -- of transparency and accountability, of restoring social trust and rebuilding public institutions, and of honesty and integrity in public service," Lacierda said.

He also said that public confidence and trust in the President also suggests high morale in a public increasingly empowered, and itself sustained in its positive feeling about our nation’s direction and prospects for the future.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang said Aquino was elated with the latest survey result.

"I think any politician who is working so hard to get his programs through would be happy to know that the public approves of his numbers, of his performance. I think it's safe to assume that the President is happy," said Carandang in an interview during the send-off of Aquino and his party for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Russia.

Carandang believed that the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona caused the rise in the President's satisfaction ratings.

"Yes, I believe that the successful impeachment of the former Chief Justice had something to do with the approval ratings of the President. Because part of what we're trying to do during the impeachment was -- as part of our anti-corruption campaign -- was to introduce reform in the judiciary," he said.

Corona was removed from office last May by the Senate impeachment court for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for not truthfully disclosing his assets and net worth. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)