Estrada hikes approval ratings leading to trial day

After dipping slightly for two weeks, President Estrada’s net approval ratings recovered dramatically a week before his historic impeachment trial which began yesterday.

According to a random tracking poll of 300 Metro Manila residents conducted daily by Pulse Asia from Nov. 16 to Dec. 6, Mr. Estrada’s net approval ratings began dipping from +11 percent on Nov. 16.

It hit rock bottom at -4 percent on Nov. 30 and then began to recover the following day until it hit +18 percent last Wednesday.

The survey, commissioned by and exclusive to The STAR, has a margin of error of plus or minus six percentage points.

Its objective is to determine how Filipinos view the different political issues concerning the nation as the jueteng scandal drags on. Three hundred Metro Manila residents are polled daily.

However, political analyst Felipe Miranda, who heads Pulse Asia, warned that figures are not something that Mr. Estrada should be "comfortable with."

He attributed the recovery to rising approval ratings from respondents belonging to Class D (from 43 percent on Dec. 1 to 55 percent on Dec. 6) and dipping disapproval ratings from respondents belonging to Class ABC (from 53 percent on Dec. 1 to 40 percent on Dec. 6).

But Miranda quickly pointed out that things could "quickly turn around" because those from the D class have a history of changing their minds quickly.

"They usually don’t hold grudges very long," he said, but added that they have short memories and can be easily swayed to go the other way.

And while the number of people in Class ABC who disapproved of Mr. Estrada dipped, many of them did not shift to the other side but became undecided (from 14 percent on Dec. 1 to 22 percent on Dec. 6), Miranda said.

Miranda also attributed Mr. Estrada’s rising approval ratings to the impeachment process.

But if you consider the significant number of Filipinos who do not want to join the anti-Estrada rallies, and who do not want the President to resign immediately, as revealed earlier in the Pulse Asia poll, Miranda said these figures showed that Filipinos want to "give the impeachment process to work."

Filipinos, whether for or against the President, want to "know the truth" in the allegations against Mr. Estrada, Miranda said.