SWS: 52% of Filipinos back Ombudsman impeachment

UPDATED 9:08 p.m. - More than half of Filipinos are in favor of moves to oust from office impeached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey said. The SWS survey, conducted from March 4 to 7 this year, said 52 percent of the respondents agree with the recent Supreme Court's (SC) decision allowing the House of Representatives to impeach Gutierrez. "Only 15 percent of respondents disagreed, 29 percent were undecided, while four percent refused to answer," the SWS said in its survey, the results of which were published Friday on the website of its media partner BusinessWorld. Ombudsman's negative satisfaction rating The SWS said the net satisfaction rating of Gutierrez was at -9, unchanged from a similar rating last September during the initial stages of the impeachment proceedings. Gutierrez’s trust rating was lowest at -22 in June 2009. It was at its highest in June 2006 at +4. The Ombudsman's case On February 15, the SC lifted a stay order issued in September last year that temporarily stopped the impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives impeached Gutierrez on Tuesday and transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate a day later. The Senate is set to start the impeachment trial on May 9. Garcia's plunder case A large majority, or 83 percent, of Filipinos agreed that former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia should be charged with plunder, while only 15 percent disagreed. Garcia was allowed to go scot-free following a plea bargaining agreement with the Office of the Ombudsman. The nationwide discontentment against Garcia was seen in large majorities in all regions, or 85 percent in Balance Luzon; 84 percent in Metro Manila, 83 percent in Mindanao and 79 percent in the Visayas. By class, nine in 10 Filipinos from class ABC and eight in 10 from classes D and E believe that plunder charges should be filed against Garcia. The survey was conducted after Congress has recommended to withdraw the plea bargain deal, a request that has not yet been acted upon by the Ombudsman despite new testimonies and evidence presented so far in congressional hearings. Geographical distribution The SWS survey also found that support for Gutierrez’ impeachment is higher in Metro Manila and class ABC, or the upper middle class. About 68 percent of the respondents in Metro Manila and 53 percent in Balance Luzon agreed with the SC decision, while 47 percent in Visayas and 42 percent in Mindanao also supported the high court ruling. By class, six in 10 from class ABC backed the House action. Half in class D supported the case, while only four in 10 from class E backed the court ruling. Palace: Remain vigilant Malacañang welcomed the result of the SWS survey. In a text message, Herminio Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, said they were pleased that majority of the people believe in making their public officials accountable. "We hope they keep up their vigilance by closely monitoring the progress of the Senate trial," he said. "We urge our people to express their sentiments and make this known to their elected representatives," Coloma added.– With Amita O. Legaspi/VVP/JV, GMA News