Pulse Asia: Most pro-Erap senators still get lower ratings

Most senators seen as allied with President Estrada are still scoring relatively low in a random opinion poll nearly a week after the start of the President’s unprecedented impeachment trial.

On the other hand, most opposition senators scored higher, according to a poll of 300 Metro Manila residents conducted daily by Pulse Asia since Nov. 16.

Only Senate President Aquilino Pimentel scored higher among the senators belonging to Mr. Estrada’s Lapian ng Masang Pilipino coalition, second only to Loren Legarda of Lakas-NUCD, who had the highest net approval rating.

In the latest survey, conducted last Tuesday, Legarda garnered a 61 percent net approval rating while Pimentel got 50 percent. Also in the top five were senators Juan Flavier (46 percent), Renato Cayetano (44) and Raul Roco (40).

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon got a 26 percent net approval rating; Sen. Robert Barbers, 23 percent; Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, 21; Sen. Franklin Drilon, 20; Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople, 19; Vicente Sotto III, 17; Majority Leader Francisco Tatad, 16; and Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. as well as Senators Sergio Osmeña III and Gregorio Honasan, 14 percent.

Among the laggards were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile (9 percent), Miriam Defensor-Santiago (4 percent), Anna Dominique Coseteng (-2 percent), John Osmeña (-4), Tessie Aquino-Oreta (-6), Ramon Revilla (-7) and Robert Jaworski (-9).

Analyzing the senators’ approval ratings, Pulse Asia president and political analyst Felipe Miranda said the survey shows how the public "assesses the process" of impeachment.

It also measures the public’s level of trust in the senators, Miranda said.

In Pimentel’s case, his handling of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation into the jueteng scandal and his promise to hold a swift but fair impeachment trial earned him respect from the public, Miranda said.

Although allied with the LAMP administration coalition, Miranda said Pimentel’s rating showed the "people were giving him the benefit of the doubt."

The survey, commissioned by and exclusive to The STAR, has a margin 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.