I Love Pinoys

“It is a price the President had to pay for making correct but unpopular decisions. A necessary part of the huge burden of governance”, Secretary Cerge Remonde of the Presidential Management Staff told ABS-CBN News.

Remonde also said that the nationwide clamor to remove the 12-percent expanded value-added tax (E-VAT) on petroleum products is affecting the President’s image.

“The President is paying the high price for making the right decisions on very unpopular issues such as the E-VAT,” he said.

Despite the bad image, Remonde said that Mrs. Arroyo remains strong and confident in her decisions.

“…while the President is sensitive to public opinion, she took an oath that requires her to do what is right, not what is popular,” Remonde added.

He likened the public opinion Mrs. Arroyo got to that of US President George W. Bush, who has been heavily criticized for sending American troops to Iraq.

“…this is part of the burden of leadership that all leaders in the world, including US President Bush, must carry. To whom much responsibility is given, much is required,” the Palace official said.

12-pt drop

Based on the results of the non-commissioned, SWS-iniated survey released Friday, Mrs. Arroyo had a net satisfaction rating of -38, her lowest since the -33 recorded more than three years ago.

Further, the SWS survey said that only 22 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the President against the 60 percent who said they were not.

In its analysis, SWS said that Mrs. Arroyo’s rating further dropped from a similar survey done in the first quarter.

“The new net rating is a 12-point drop from net –26 (27% satisfied, 54% dissatisfied) in the First Quarter 2008 Survey of March 28-31,”

It added: “It is the fourth consecutive quarterly drop in her net rating since June 2007, when it was a neutral –3.”

The survey was held in late June, at a time when consumers were lining up for hours just to buy two kilos of rice at government grains centers.

Regions thumb down on Arroyo

The analysis also found out that more and more Filipinos in major regions said that they are not satisfied with the President and her programs.

“For the first time, gross dissatisfaction is at majority levels in all study areas: 63% in Metro Manila, 60% in the Balance of Luzon, 56% in the Visayas, and 62% in Mindanao,” it said.

In fact, Mrs. Arroyo’s rating in the Visayas, where she supposedly draws the strongest support, was cut by 18 points, from -15 in March to -33 three months later.

In the March survey, 33 percent of the Visayan respondents agreed with Mrs. Arroyo while 51 percent dissented.

Last month, however, the rating dropped to 23 percent satisfied Visayans against 56 percent for those dissatisfied.

Mindanao folk, meanwhile, also showed their dissatisfaction by rating the President at -33, which is down from the -41 registered in March. The rating is a new record-low for the area.

The same drop in ratings was seen in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, SWS said.

“Her net satisfaction ratings fell by 13 points in Balance Luzon, from –25 (26% satisfied, 51% dissatisfied) to –38 (22% satisfied, 60% dissatisfied), and by 3 points in Metro Manila, from –37 (23% satisfied, 60% dissatisfied) to –40 (23% satisfied, 63% dissatisfied),” the survey firm said.

SWS said that Mrs. Arroyo had -47 in May 2005 for Balance of Luzon and -48 in Metro Manila in June 2006.

‘Masa’ don’t want her

Meanwhile, among socio-economic classes, those in A, B and C registered their disstatisfaction of the President like their counterparts in the “masa” or D.

“The net satisfaction rating of Pres. Arroyo fell the most among the middle-to-upper classes or ABCs.  It fell by 23 points, from –14 (34% satisfied, 48% dissatisfied) last March to –37 (22% satisfied, 59% dissatisfied) in Jun,” SWS said in its anaylisis.

The previous record-low for ABC was -34 in May 2005, SWS said, citing past records.

Records went up in February, June and September 2007 when ratings in lower D and E classes were negative or zero.

Apparently, the administration’s supposedly “pro-poor” programs were not being received warmly by the masses.

In the June 2008 survey, Mrs. Arroyo’s rating among the class D dropped by 11 points, from -24 in March to -35 three months ago. The June rating was a point short of the -35 recorded in May 2005.

SWS also said that based on the survey results, the President’s net rating dropped  by 8 points in class E.

“…from net –37 in March (23% satisfied, 60% dissatisfied), [it fell] to –45 in June (20% satisfied, 65% dissatisfied),” it said.  The previous record-low for Class E was –37 in March 2008.