Binay drops 6 points in new SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines – It was a sharp rise, and then a fall. Vice President Jejomar Binay's net satisfaction rating dropped a significant 6 points in a new survey by polling firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Monday, July 21. 

He registed a net rating of 67% in a survey conducted June 27-30, down from 73% in the March 2014 survey. The decline is double the survey's error margin of 3 points.

This new survey was conducted after the arrest of his key allies – senators Ramon Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada – for their alleged involvement in the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam. The arrest of another ally, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, was also in the news then.

In spite of the decline, Binay's rating remains the highest among top-ranking government officials. In the same period, President Benigno Aquino III registered a 25% net satisfaction rating, his lowest since 2010.

Another survey, by polling firm Pulse Asia, shows that Binay remains the top contender in the 2016 presidential race. (Read on the latest Pulse Asia survey here.)

Like that of other government officials, Binay's ratings have shown sharp movements since the pork barrel controversy erupted in 2013. The Vice President enjoyed a  huge increase in the March survey,  up by 11 points from the December survey where he registered 62%. It seemed then that the vice president was unaffected by the controversy.

SWS polled 1,200 respondents nationwide.

The SWS only released the results of the March survey last week. The survey results show that the net satisfaction ratings of other high ranking government officials were statistically unchanged, considering the error margin.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr registered an improvement from a negative rating in March (-1) to a positive rating in June (+2).  – Rappler.com