Massacre issue takes toll on Arroyo govt's poll ratings

The way the government dealt with the November 23 massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao province has affected the satisfaction rating of the Arroyo administration, a latest survey showed. "People in all areas and classes had mixed opinions about government’s action to bring justice to the Maguindanao massacre case," said Social Weather Station (SWS) in explaining the administration’s "poor" rating in the survey conducted last December 5 to 10. The survey showed the Arroyo administration got a "poor" net satisfaction rating of –17 on suppressing politicians with private armies in Mindanao, and a "neutral" score of -2 on its response to the massacre. SWS’ Net Satisfaction Ratings rate +50 and above as "very good;" +30 to +49 as "good;" +10 to +29 as "moderate," +9 to -9 as "neutral;" -10 to -29 as "poor;" -30 to -49 as "bad;" and -50 or lower as "very bad." At least 57 people, more than half of them journalists, were killed in the massacre blamed on the powerful Ampatuan clan. The bloodbath prompted the government to place Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City under state of emergency. It also declared martial law on most part of Maguindanao for eight days early December. The Justice department has already lodged murder and rebellion charges against members of the Ampatuan clan, whom the administration considered as allies prior to the massacre. Mixed opinion SWS said public opinion was mixed on what the government had done to resolve the Maguindanao massacre case. "(The survey) found mixed opinions on what the government had done up to that point to resolve the Maguindanao massacre case with justice, with 41 percent satisfied and 44 percent dissatisfied, for a neutral net satisfaction rating of –2 (percent satisfied minus percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded). The remaining 15 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied," SWS said. The survey also showed 75 percent of the public followed closely the developments on the Maguindanao massacre, including the arrest of members of the Ampatuan clan. The survey was conducted December 5 to 10, using face-to-face interviews of 2,100 adults divided into random samples of 300 in Metro Manila and 600 each in Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Sampling error margins of ±2.2% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila and ±4% for Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao applied to the survey. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV