Survey: VP Binay suffers 5-pt dip in ratings; Corona gains

A month after President Benigno Aquino III's satisfaction ratings were reported to have dropped by five points, the ratings of most top government officials dipped as well, a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations showed. Vice President Jejomar Binay suffered a five-point dip in his satisfaction ratings, to a “very good" +69 with 78 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied with his performance and 9 percent saying they were dissatisfied. Binay had an “excellent" +74 in March with 81 percent satisfied and 7 percent dissatisfied, the SWS said in its survey, the results of which were posted Friday on its media partner BusinessWorld. Last June 21, the SWS said Aquino's ratings dipped from “very good" to “good," where his net satisfaction rating fell to +46, with 64 percent indicating approval and 18 percent indicating they were not satisfied. It was down from the “very good" net score Aquino got in March, where he got +51 (69 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied). This was also a drop from Aquino’s best score of +64, also considered as “very good," recorded in November 2010. Malacañang at the time quickly downplayed the drop in ratings, with presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda insisting the level of dissatisfaction did not increase nationally. The SWS considers net satisfaction ratings of +70 and above as “excellent"; +50 to +69, “very good"; +30 to +49, “good"; +10 to +29, “moderate", +9 to -9, “neutral"; -10 to -29, “poor"; -30 to -49, “bad"; -50 to -69, “very bad"; -70 and below, “execrable." Corona gains While approval ratings of other high officials also suffered a slight fall over the last three months, Chief Justice Renato Corona's edged up. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had his net score fall by four points to +39 (56 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied) from +43 (62 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), although the score kept him in “good" territory. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s score remained at “moderate" with +15 (37 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied) from +17 (40 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied) previously. Meanwhile, Corona gained a “neutral" zero from -4, which is also considered as “neutral." The Cabinet and the House of Representatives scored one-point gains in their net satisfaction ratings. The Cabinet rated a “moderate" +25 (45 percent satisfied, 21 percent dissatisfied) from +24 (47 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied). It was near the record-high of +27 hit in June 1997 and March 1999. On the other hand, the House of Representatives’ score improved to a “good" +31 (50 percent satisfied, 20 percent dissatisfied) from +30 (50 percent satisfied, 20 percent dissatisfied). The Supreme Court’s rating remained a “moderate" +26 although the distributions changed to 50 percent satisfied and 24 percent dissatisfied from 52 percent satisfied, 26 percent dissatisfied. But the Senate saw its score fall by two points to a “good" +47 (64 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied) from +49 (65 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied) in March. The SWS’ second quarter survey conducted from June 3-6 used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. Sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national and ±6 percent for area percentages applied to the survey. — LBG, GMA News