SWS: Satisfaction with govt institutions improve under Aquino admin

Public satisfaction with the performance of top government institutions improved during the first three months of President Benigno Aquino III’s administration, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed. The SWS poll, conducted from September 24 to 27 and first published on Tuesday in the broadsheet Business World, revealed that net satisfaction with top institutions from the government’s three branches increased “significantly" during the first few months of Aquino’s presidency. The biggest improvement in net satisfaction was registered by the Cabinet, whose rating improved from a “poor" –7 mark last March to a “moderate" +22 rating in September, according to SWS. The survey also showed increases in the net satisfaction ratings of the two chambers of Congress, with the House of Representatives receiving a +30 rating from a +7 mark last March. The Senate, meanwhile, got a higher +48 rating compared to its +25 mark seven months ago. Public satisfaction with the Supreme Court also improved to +33 last month from its +9 rating last March. Despite the high court’s positive marks, Chief Justice Renato Corona received a “neutral" –5 net satisfaction rating, a slight improvement from his “poor" –18 three months ago. Binay, Belmonte get initial positive marks Vice President Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, got a “very good" initial public satisfaction rating of +58 in the September 2010 SWS poll. Binay’s first rating as vice-president is higher compared to his predecessor, former Vice President Noli De Castro, who got an initial +22 score in May 2005. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also got a positive initial rating of +9, better than former House Speaker Prospero Nograles’ “poor" –12 initial rating in March 2008. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s satisfaction rating still received a +39 score in the latest SWS poll, although the figure showed a slight decrease from his +41 rating three months earlier. The SWS survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 randomly selected adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percent.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV