MANILA, Philippines - The Senate suffered a significant drop in its approval and trust ratings in the second quarter of the year amid the controversy over the alleged misuse of the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) involving some lawmakers, a recent Pulse Asia survey showed.
The Senate’s national approval rating fell by eight percentage points from 41 percent in March to 33 percent in June, Pulse Asia said in its June 2014 Ulat ng Bayan national survey.
The Senate’s trust rating also went down by 11 points from 42 percent last December to 31 percent in June.
The survey was conducted from June 24 to July 2, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above.
Satisfaction with the Senate’s work fell by 14 points to 30 percent in Metro Manila; and by 15 points to 34 percent in Mindanao.
It also fell among respondents from classes ABC and D to 18 percent and 34 percent (19 points and nine points), respectively.
“Amidst the continuing controversy regarding the so-called pork barrel or PDAF scam involving some lawmakers, the Senate experienced a decline in its trust ratings in the Visayas (-14 percentage points), Mindanao (-15 points), Metro Manila (-18 points), and Classes ABC and E (-15 to -18 points),” Pulse Asia said.
The survey was conducted following the filing of charges of plunder and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Sandiganbayan against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. in connection with the pork barrel scam.
Meanwhile, the approval and trust ratings of the House of Representatives also dropped in the same period, Pulse Asia said.
Satisfaction with the performance of the House fell from 38 percent in March to 34 percent in June.
Its trust score also dipped from 39 percent in December last year to 29 percent in June.
The Supreme Court also experienced declines in its approval and trust scores in the June survey of Pulse Asia.
The high court’s approval and trust scores both fell by four points to 49 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
“The changes in the respective overall performance ratings of the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives are marginal in nature as they fall within the survey’s overall error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points,” Pulse Asia said.