QC, Pasig, Manila mayors top approval ratings survey

MANILA, Philippines — Local chief executives of Quezon City, Pasig and Manila scored the highest approval ratings among Metro Manila mayors for their overall performance in 2020, a recent survey has shown. 

Results from a study commissioned by the group RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. said Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte got an 85%-approval rating, followed by Pasig's Vico Sotto with 82% and the capital city's Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso with 77%.

The survey, held from December 5 to 15, had 3,500 respondents from ages 18 to 70 and were all Metro Manila residents who are registered voters.

Participants were selected randomly and were asked on their LGU's performance for this year. The results had a sampling margin error at ±3% percent and 95% confidence level.

The number of respondents, the group added, was proportionally distributed per official population data of NCR cities.

QC, with 2.9 million residents based on the last census, had 798 participants, followed by Manila with 484 and Caloocan with 430. 

Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela (75%) and Mayor Marcy Teodoro (72%) of Marikina landed on the 4th and 5th spot in the said survey, respectively. 

The rest of Metro Manila mayors were ranked in the following: 

• Navotas - Toby Tiangco (69%)
• Taguig - Lino Cayetano (67%)
• Makati - Abby Binay (64%)
• Mandaluyong - Carmelita Abalos (55%)
• San Juan - Francis Zamora (53%)
• Muntinlupa - Jaime Fresnedi (49%)
• Caloocan - Oscar Malapitan (47%)
• Pateros - Miguel Ponce III (45%)
• Parañaque - Edwin Olivarez (45%)
• Las Piñas - Imelda Aguilar (34%)
• Malabon - Antolin Oreta III (31%)
• Pasay - Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (30%)

Sotto, Belmonte and Moreno had also placed as the top three mayors in an earlier survey by the group in June for local government's response to the coronavirus crisis.

The results of the December survey are not far from a study by the group in June, which assessed local governments' response to the coronavirus crisis. 

It was then Sotto who had topped the list, followed by Belmonte, Moreno, Teodoro and Gatchalilan. 

"To those who were deficient, they must remember that the job approval measure is quite volatile by its very nature," said Dr. Paul Martinez of RPDinc of the recent survey's results. "Constituents tend to use their rating of the city mayor as a repository for their feelings about what is going on in the city in general, and those feelings are subject to rapid change."

He added that local chief executives should always keep in mind that they are evaluated by their constituents on a regular basis. 

"In NCR, it is important to note that the city mayor is almost constantly in the news (social media). There is ample information flow from which the public can make judgments on the mayor's performance on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis," Martinez said. 

Respondents had also been asked if they will back their mayors for re-election in 2022, with those in the top 5 namely: Sotto with 77%, Belmonte with 75%, Moreno with 72%, Teodoro with 65% and Cayetano with 63%,

Gatchalian, who is in his last term as Valenzuela mayor, got a 70% support should he opt to run for another post in the city. 

"NCR mayors who were positively assessed by their constituents received a strong support for re-election bid," Martinez said. "While those who were rated low towards their job performance also received low support to whether they will seek re-election or run for another public office."

Belmonte, Sotto and Moreno are rookie mayors, whose first year in office had met the difficult challenge to respond to an ongoing health crisis that has infected and killed thousands in the Philippines. 
 

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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.

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