Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Cabaero: Government rating drops in Visayas By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
IN THESE times of double-digit inflation and wages not catching up, it is important that whatever benefit there is for the people should be spread throughout the country and not to Metro Manila first.
I have always wondered why a minimum wage increase usually takes effect first in the greater Manila area or when the debate about power rates is focused on Manila electricity rates. People outside of Metro Manila in effect have to wait for the benefits to reach them.
When the controversial P500 subsidies were given out by departments under President Arroyo, these were distributed first to Metro Manila poor families. It was days before the subsidies reached families in Cebu.
There is a bigger concentration of the urban population in Manila compared to other urban areas of Cebu, Davao, etc. This is probably the reason why implementation of such measures happens there first. But when populations of urban areas outside of Metro Manila are combined, the number is definitely far from insignificant.
I raise this because of the recent finding of an independent polling body that said people in the Visayas, formerly a region known to be supportive of the President, have given her administration a lower rating this time compared to three months ago.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) released Monday the results of its recent survey that showed net satisfaction ratings with the government’s performance reaching a record low. The report was released just hours before the President’s eighth State-of-the-Nation Address before a joint session of Congress.
According to the SWS, the public’s net satisfaction with the Arroyo administration’s general performance went down in the second quarter of 2008 to a record low of minus 21. For the first quarter of this year, satisfaction rating was at minus 19.
The survey was conducted from last June 27 to 30. Face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults were conducted with random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
This minus 21 satisfaction rating was reportedly the lowest that any administration received since the fall of the government of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
The SWS said the low score was recorded as people in the Visayas, known as supportive of President Arroyo, gave her administration a record minus 26, down by 18 points from a minus 8 in March 2008. It said this was a “new record-low” in the Visayas.
It was in Cebu where Arroyo started her term of office following her election in 2004. Parts of the Visayas were credited for giving her a lead over opponents in that electoral race.
With fuel and food prices rising throughout the country, it is easy for people in the Visayas to become unsatisfied with the government’s performance. It doesn’t help at all when subsidies, power rate adjustments and minimum wages get to be implemented first in the Metro Manila area before they take effect in the provinces.
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SONA 2008. To get the full text of President Arroyo’s report to the nation, go to the Sun.Star website at www.sunstar.com.ph and click on the “Arroyo Watch” icon. Posted there are the report, a timeline and photos.
