Enrile, top officials’ trust ratings rise in March

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top government officials registered gains in their trust ratings in March, with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile gaining back a majority approval rating, survey firm Pulse Asia said Monday, April 8.

In its latest Ulat ng Bayan survey, released Monday, the firm said 4 out of the country’s top 5 officials got significant bumps in their approval ratings in March.

These were Vice President Jejomar Binay (+6 percentage points, from 70 to 76); Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (+7 percentage points, from 46 to 53); House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr (+6, from 27 to 33); and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (+6, from 26 to 32).

President Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, also had a gain of 4 percentage points, from 68% approval in February to 72% in March).

In their disapproval ratings, only Enrile had a significant change: his disapproval rating went down by 5 percentage points, from 16% in February to 11% in March. 

“Undecided” and the rest of the disapproval ratings remain almost unchanged, Pulse Asia noted.

Of the said officials, 3 – Aquino, Binay, and Enrile – got a majority approval rating.

The gains in the approval ratings come after major drops in their trust and approval ratings in the January 2013 report. There were little changes in their ratings in February.

Enrile had the most to gain, after his 27 percentage point drop in January, which saw his approval ratings go down from majority to near-majority ratings.

The Senate President and pundits had attributed the plunge in his ratings then to the Senate controversy in January where he excluded 4 critics from receiving additional Senate funds. 

On the other hand, Pulse Asia reported no significant changes in the national trust ratings of the said officials, but recorded some “notable movements” in ratings across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes.

Enrile gained an 11-point bump in his trust ratings in Luzon and Visayas, and also had major improvements in his ratings from Classes A, B, C, and D.

Belmonte and Sereno also had improved trust ratings in Luzon and among Class D respondents. Belmonte, however, also gained 10 percentage points in his indecision ratings.

Sereno and Belmonte’s distrust ratings, meanwhile, went down, the survey firm noted.

Majority approval, trust for Senate, House, SC

The March 2013 Ulat ng Bayan survey also noted majority approval and trust ratings for the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court.

Pulse Asia said the survey was done from March 16 to 20, conducted via face-to-face interviews.

During the said period, some of the dominant issues and events were the Sabah standoff, the suspension of implementation of the reproductive health law, and the ongoing election season.

A total of 1,800 adult respondents took part in the survey. It has a +/- 2% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.

Pulse Asia said the survey was conducted on their own, without any commissioning party. – Rappler.com

March 2013 Ulat ng Bayan Survey Results