Senate, House approval ratings plummet – poll

MANILA, Philippines —  With some lawmakers tagged in alleged corruption schemes involving infrastructure projects, approval in the performance of both chambers of Congress has plunged by double digits in the third quarter of the year, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 27 to 30, found that only 42 percent of the respondents approved of the performance of the Senate. It went down by 11 points from 53 percent obtained in a similar survey in June.

Those who disapproved of the Senate’s performance increased by 10 points from 18 percent to 28 percent, while those who were undecided slightly increased from 28 percent to 30 percent.

The House of Representatives obtained even lower approval ratings, declining by 17 points from 47 percent in June to just 30 percent in the latest survey.

Those who disapproved of the lower chamber’s performance increased by 13 points, from 21 percent to 34 percent, while those who were undecided increased from 32 percent to 36 percent.

The survey, which had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8 percent, was conducted weeks after the leadership changes at both chambers.