Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Survey: Many metro residents believe Arroyo is 'corrupt'
A SURVEY of the Social Weather Station (SWS) showed that a large majority of Filipinos in Luzon believe that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is involved in corrupt practices.
Conducted last July 18 to 20 with about 600 respondents from the Mega Manila area (National Capital Region and the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Rizal and Laguna), the survey showed 71 percent of the respondents said that the President was allegedly "involved in corrupt practices."
Twenty-four percent do not think Arroyo is corrupt while five percent had no opinion.
Of those who linked the Arroyo to alleged corrupt activities, 73 percent came from the socio-economic classes A, B C, the "upper and middle classes" which form the President's base of support, while 69 and 73 percent of the Classes D and E polled likewise said so.
The survey asked the respondent's belief in the "involvement of officials in corrupt practices and their opinion on the persons' degree of corruption."
First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo fared even worse as 77 percent believed that he was involved in corrupt practices while only 19 percent believed otherwise. Four percent had no opinion on the matter.
Former President Joseph Estrada who is charged with plunder and perjury by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly receiving kickbacks from excise tobacco taxes, fared better in the corruption perception category.
Sixty-six percent do not believe Estrada made himself rich through corrupt practices while he was the President. Thirty one percent believed he was corrupt while three percent had no opinion on the issue.
Of those who said Estrada was not corrupt, 65 percent came from National Capital Region while 68 percent came from the four provinces.
As to the socio-economic classes, 49 percent of the upper-middle classes favored the former chief executive while 67 and 72 percent respectively came from Classes D and E, where Estrada normally got his strongest backing.
United Opposition (UNO) and Makati mayor Jejomar Binay said the survey results only showed that despite the Estrada's cases, "the people clearly manifested their trust on the former leader."
When asked for their "opinion on a person's degree of corruption", 78 percent, considered President Arroyo either "very" or "somewhat corrupt" while only 18 percent were convinced that the President was either "probably" or "definitely not" corrupt.
But even in this category, the First Gentleman was worse off with more people, or 81 percent rated him as "very" or "somewhat corrupt" with only 13 percent saying he was either "probably" or "definitely not corrupt".
Seventy-six percent in the upper and middle classes agreed that corruption increased under the Arroyo administration while another 71 percent in Class D and 73 percent in Class E likewise agreed with the statement.
Eleven percent of the Classes A, B, and C disagreed with the statement while a similar number were undecided. (AH/Sunnex)
