Leni’s satisfaction rating drops; other top officials steady

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Leni Robredo’s satisfaction rating dropped in the first quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) amid her controversial video message at a United Nations side session last month where she criticized the Duterte administration’s brutal drug war.

The poll, taken from March 25 to 28, found 53 percent of Filipinos satisfied and 27 percent dissatisfied with Robredo’s performance, resulting in a net satisfaction score of “moderate” +26.

Nineteen percent of the respondents were undecided, the SWS said.

Robredo’s March rating was down by 11 points from her December 2016 score of +37, classified as “good.” In her first performance rating as vice president, Robredo obtained a score of +49 (“good”).

The survey was conducted after Robredo, in a video message sent to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria, disclosed alleged police abuse in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

An impeachment complaint has been filed against Robredo but no lawmaker has endorsed it. 

Meanwhile, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno suffered a slight drop in their performance ratings in the first quarter of the year.

Pimentel obtained a net satisfaction score of +29 (49 percent satisfied, 25 percent dissatisfied), a point lower than his December score of +30.

Sereno received a net satisfaction score of +14 (37 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied), down two points from +16 last December.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez got a net satisfaction rating of +12 (37 percent satisfied and 25 percent dissatisfied), up from December’s +10. 

Leni vows to work harder

Robredo took as a challenge the double-digit drop in her public satisfaction rating to work harder.

“We take every survey as a continuing challenge to do better and make a bigger difference in the lives of the marginalized,” Georgina Hernandez, spokesperson for Robredo, said in a statement.

Hernandez said that surveys serve as a reminder that there are more families and communities that the Vice President should reach out to.

Despite the significant drop, Robredo took her latest rating positively and remained grateful for the continued trust of the people.

“The support of the majority is an encouragement for the Vice President, who is working with communities and partners to address poverty around the country,” Hernandez said.

Senators from the Liberal Party (LP) expected the drop in Robredo’s survey ratings, which they attributed to the “black propaganda” waged against her.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, who was Robredo’s campaign manager in the last elections, said the Vice President should work harder to gain the trust of more Filipinos.

“This was expected with all the black propaganda against her, but it only affected a small percentage of the respondents as the majority are still supportive of the Vice President,” Aquino said in a text message.

“To rebound, she needs to continue pushing her agenda of uplifting the lives of the poor and find a way to ensure the message of hope and solidarity is louder than the mudslinging done by her detractors,” he said.

LP president and Sen. Francis Pangilinan expected the drop in Robredo’s satisfaction rating, pointing out that President Duterte also suffered a seven-point drop in the poll.

The survey results were published in BusinessWorld yesterday. It used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide.

It has an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.

The SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings of +70 and above as “excellent”; +50 to +69 as “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”; +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -9, “very bad”; and -70 and below as “execrable.”  – With Paolo Romero