Enrile's public approval dips following funds row

PUBLIC confidence in Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile went down last month after he was accused of unfair distribution of funds to colleagues, a survey released by independent firm Pulse Asia stated Tuesday.

Enrile's approval rating dropped by 27 percentage points from +73 in November to +46 in January 2013 while other top officials like President Benigno Aquino III, Vice President Jejomar Binay, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno also saw their ratings going downhill.

President Aquino got +66 rating (down 12 points), Binay received +69 (down 13 points), Belmonte had +28 (down 18 points) and Sereno netted +24 (down 14 points).

"The plurality sentiment with regard to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile's performance is one of appreciation (46 percent)," the survey said, adding the Senate's trust rating was at +48 from +61 last November.

Conducted from January 19 to 30, 2013 involving 1,800 respondents, it was during this period when Enrile threatened to quit his post to end speculations that he was bribing senators with P1.6 million additional funds to keep him as Senate President.

Enrile's attempt, however, was nipped by 11 senators even as staunch critic Senator Antonio Trillanes IV promised that the Senate leader will still be ousted. Trillanes is one of the four senators critical of Enrile who did not receive extra money for maintenance and other operating expenses last December.

Senators had already turned over documents regarding their use of funds from 2009 to 2012 to the Commission on Audit (COA) while letting go the practice of issuing certifications to liquidate money allotted for MOOE.

The survey has a margin of error of ± 2 percent at 95 percent confidence level. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)