Pulse Asia poll: GMA approval rating down to 19% in July

How low can it go?

Already scraping the bottom in popularity surveys, President Arroyo’s approval rating dropped yet again, hitting just 19 percent last month down from 25 percent in June, according to a survey released yesterday.

Independent pollster Pulse Asia Inc. said field interviews conducted July 2 to 14 also found that of the 1,200 adults polled, 58 percent disapproved of Mrs. Arroyo’s performance, up from 46 percent in June. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The latest survey showed a steady decline in Mrs. Arroyo’s approval rating from 41 percent in October 2004, as her administration continued to be hounded by allegations that she rigged last year’s election and that her relatives received illegal gambling kickbacks.

At Malacañang, officials admitted yesterday the recent scandals hitting the President have affected her trust and approval ratings.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye might have been wrong in saying Mrs. Arroyo’s ratings had reached "rock bottom" and could not go any lower at the time she was pushing for the unpopular expanded value-added tax (EVAT) law.

Ermita said they thought the President’s ratings would recover by the time the benefits of her economic and reform measures were being felt by the people. The EVAT law, however, was stopped with a technical restraining order issued by the Supreme Court a day after it went into effect and is now under review.

Bunye reiterated that governance is not a popularity contest and that plunging ratings should only serve as a wake-up call to do better.

But it wasn’t only Mrs. Arroyo who seemed to turn off the public, as shown by other results of the latest survey.

"The political and economic problems that hit the country in the second quarter of 2005 took their toll not only on President Gloria Arroyo but also on the other top national government officials and the national administration as a whole," Pulse Asia said.

Approval ratings for Vice President Noli de Castro, top congressional leaders and the Supreme Court also dropped from the previous month’s poll findings, the July 2005 Ulat ng Bayan survey showed.

De Castro, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Jose de Venecia and Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. suffered a decline of nine to 14 percentage points.

Their disapproval ratings rose by seven to nine percentage points between June and July.

"The decline in approval ratings is notable, considering that it affects officials who supported President Arroyo during the period as well as those who opposed her," Pulse Asia said.

It cited in particular Drilon, who broke from the administration last month. Joined by other members of the Liberal Party which he heads, Drilon added to the calls for Mrs. Arroyo to resign.

The President, facing impeachment over vote-rigging and other allegations, has denied the charges and challenged her accusers to take the case to court. Opposition lawmakers have filed an impeachment case.

At present, none of the country’s top government officials scored a majority approval rating, according to Pulse Asia.

De Castro nonetheless still enjoyed the highest approval rating despite a slight decline with 44 percent, followed by Drilon with 39 percent and De Venecia and Davide both at 31 percent.

Pulse Asia said it undertakes the Ulat ng Bayan survey series "on its own without any party singularly commissioning the research effort."

As a whole, the Arroyo administration failed to score a majority approval rating on any of the 14 national issues probed by Pulse Asia during the survey period.

Approval for the national government ranged from 14 percent on the matter of controlling inflation to 31 percent on the issue of encouraging new investments to generate more jobs.

On the other hand, a virtual majority of Filipinos — ranging from 47 percent to 68 percent — disapproved of the administration’s performance on nine of the 14 national issues.

And of these nine issues, five may be considered urgent constituency matters since they were cited by 32 percent to 45 percent as national concerns that must be immediately addressed by the government.

These issues range from increasing peace in the country, economic recovery, eradicating graft and corruption, reducing poverty and controlling inflation. — AP, Aurea Calica