De Castro’s net satisfaction ratings continue to drop – SWS poll

Vice President Noli de Castro’s net satisfaction rating has continued to drop three months before he ends his term, a survey conducted by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) late last year showed. According to the SWS Fourth Quarter of 2009 survey conducted on 2,100 respondents from December 5 to 10 last year, De Castro’s net satisfaction rating dropped to +23 (52 percent satisfied, 28 percent dissatisfied) from +32 in September 2009. The nine-point drop downgraded De Castro’s net satisfaction ratings from “good" to “moderate," the SWS said. The vice president’s current net satisfaction rating was just one point above his lowest score of +22 in May 2005, the same survey showed. The downward trend in De Castro’s rating started in September last year, when he recorded the highest drop of 12 percentage points from +44 in June 2009 to +32 in the said period. Top government officials Despite the ratings drop, De Castro still registered the highest net satisfaction ratings among top government officials. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is currently seeking reelection, got a +19 net satisfaction rating in December 2009, an improvement of five percentage points from his previous +14 score, the same SWS poll showed. Chief Justice Reynato Puno, meanwhile, got a “neutral" net satisfaction rating of +1 in the said survey, a slight decrease from his +2 third quarter score last year. Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, for his part, continued to get the lowest net satisfaction ratings for a House of Representative Speaker, registering a “poor" score of -20 in the SWS survey. Nograles is seeking for a mayoralty post in Davao in the upcoming polls. Gov’t institutions’ score slightly changed The December 2009 SWS survey likewise showed slight changes in the net satisfaction scores of top government institutions. The net satisfaction rating of the Senate remained in the “moderate" range at +27, slightly lower from last September’s +30 score. The Supreme Court likewise got a “moderate" +18 net satisfaction rating in December 2009, four points up from last September’s +18. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, got a +9 net satisfaction ratings in the latest SWS poll, a point down its +10 score from the previous round. The Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose net satisfaction ratings remain at “bad," got the lowest score among top government institutions, with a “neutral" -1 rating. The SWS survey was conducted nationwide among 2,100 adults chosen through random sampling. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percent.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV