MANILA, Philippines – The latest trust rating of Vice President Leni Robredo remains “good” but it is significantly lower than her previous ratings, according to a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

In the survey first published on BusinessWorld on Tuesday, May 9, SWS found that 55% of Filipinos have “much trust” in Robredo while 25% have “little trust” in her. Some 20% of the respondents said they are undecided.

This gives Robredo a trust rating of +30. Still classified as “good” by the polling firm, the Vice President’s recent rating is 15 points below the +45 trust rating she had in December last year.

SWS uses the following classification:

• +70 and above – 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

The survey was conducted from March 25 to 28 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult Filipinos across the country. It has a margin of error of ±3%.

Around the same time as the survey period, Robredo was already dealing with impeachment threats and criticism over her video message on the drug war, which was shown at a non-governmental organization’s event in Vienna, Austria.

In a separate SWS survey also conducted in March, the Vice President’s net satisfaction rating dropped as well. From a +37 net satisfaction rating in December, it slid to +26.

“The SWS survey question on trust rating is different from satisfaction rating as the former gauges public trust in a personality as a whole, while the latter asks about public satisfaction with an individual’s performance related to his/her position or duty,” explained the polling firm.

Nationwide decline

The SWS said the major decline in Robredo’s ratings was seen nationwide. She got a 10-point decline in Metro Manila, balance Luzon (outside Metro Manila), and the Visayas, and lost 32 points in Mindanao. (READ: Robredo should avoid message of ‘discord, dissonance’ – analyst) 

Robredo, however, maintained a “very good” trust rating in the Visayas (+40) and balance Luzon (+33). She slid down to “moderate” from “good” in Metro Manila (+20) and from “very good” to “moderate” in Mindanao (+20).

Among socioeconomic classes, the Vice President stayed at “moderate” among classes A, B, and C, even though her rating went down by 8 points from +27 to +19.

Her rating among the class D also declined from +43 to +27 or from “good” to “moderate”. She also slid from “very good” to “good” in class E with an 8-point decrease from +54 to +46.

Meanwhile, Robredo’s rating stayed “good” among those aged 18 to 24 (from +34 to +38) and those aged 45 to 54 (from +44 to +38). Trust in her declined among 25- to 34-year-olds by 18 points, and by 20 points from 35- to 44-year-olds. She saw the steepest decline of 23 points in the 55-and-above age bracket.

Elementary graduates continue to trust Robredo despite a decline of 11 points, from +48 to +37, while trust for her among the non-elementary graduates fell by 12 points from +50 to +38. She also saw a decline in trust among the high school graduates from +42 to +27 and among the college graduates from +32 to +7.

In a statement, Robredo’s spokesperson Georgina Hernandez said they are grateful for the “continued show of trust” in Robredo. 

“The survey, which was conducted from December 2016 to March 2017, were the first 3 months that VP Leni began work outside of [the] Cabinet, and focused all her efforts on Angat Buhay, the Office of the Vice President’s anti-poverty initiative,” Hernandez said.

“The survey results are a reminder to us as well that there are still many Filipinos who place their trust in VP Leni and her ability to serve and give voice to those on the margins of society,” she added. – Rappler.com