Opposition solons downplay Aquino's satisfaction rating

Opposition lawmakers downplayed the 'very good' satisfaction rating that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III received for his first 100 days, saying it stemmed from post-election euphoria. "I think this favorable survey would just be a continuation of the momentum of the electoral mandate and not really based on the President’s performance. Mukhang may euphoria pa of that electoral mandate," House minority leader Edcel Lagman told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday. The members of the House minority bloc, however, refused to assess the first three months of the President and instead laid out 10 standards for judging Aquino. "Instead of giving the President a grade as other quarters have done, I'm submitting a set of standards on how to assess the President’s performcne not only on the first 100 days but in the entirety of his tenure or term," he said. These standards are: 1. Ability, agility and alacrity in responding to a crisis situation and its aftermath; 2. Existence, substance and viability of the Aquino administration’s legislative agenda; 3. Adequacy and import of the President’s policy prioritizations and budgetary allocations in the National Expenditure Program (NEP); 4. Choice of presidential appointees on the basis of qualification, experience and integrity; 5. Capacity to confront the present and plan the future, instead of perpetually complaining about the past and castigating predecessors; 6. Response to criticisms and critics; 7. Decisiveness of actions and judiciousness in resolving options; 8. Statesmanship over partisanship; 9. Sincerity and credibility over bare propaganda and populist pronouncements; and 10. Resoluteness in confronting and solving the population issue without fear or favor. Lagman said the minority lawmakers will defer assessing Aquino and will let people judge the present administration based on its performance. "These should be standard by which we are going to assess the President's performance now and in the succeeding months and years then we will be able to come out with a judgment which cannot be faulted as partisan, one-sided or disregarded. We submit and let the people decide based on these standards," Lagman said. He further said the Aquino administration should stop comparing itself to the previous administration. Lagman said the Aquino administration should be judged based on its own merit. "There should be a stop on comparisons, you should confront the present and plan for the future. You cannot keep on digging the past and castigating your predecessor. You should stand on your own merits," the Albay representative said. He said the practice of castigating former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is hampering the present administration from effectively governing the country. Lagman said it is human nature to defend one's choice. "The people trusted him and it appears that the people would try to continue defending that trust without making an empirical assessment of the performance of the person they have trusted," he said. Lower than June rating Zambales Rep. Ma Milagros Magsaysay noted that the +60 satisfaction rating was lower than President Aquino's +83 rating before he took his oath on June 30. "If you will notice (the rating) went down already. People have started to realize that the promises he made during the campaign were not fulfilled," she said. The legislator said President Aquino should address this and take this as a wake up call to what lapses he committed. She added the first 100 days may not be enough to judge Aquino but it gives the public a glimpse of what can happen in the next five years. "The challenge now to President Aquino and his administration is to see how they can uplift everybody’s life, how they will address the problem. But with the way we see it, with the fact that PNoy and his administration were very indecisive in many instances, show you that probably they have a lot to learn as far as governance is concerned," Magsaysay said. –VVP, GMANews.TV