The Philippine Online Chronicles

With less than two weeks before the end of his first year in office, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III recorded a fresh drop in his net satisfaction rating based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Based on the results of a June 3-6 nationwide poll, President Aquino’s net satisfaction rating stood at +46, with 64 percent of respondents indicating satisfaction with the President’s performance, while 18 percent indicating otherwise. This was down from March’s “very good” net score of +51, BusinessWorld said in its exclusive report.

The President’s net score in the June survey is down 18 points from his best score of +64 which was recorded in November last year.

Respondents from Metro Manila and Balance Luzon said the president was "good" at his job while those from the Visayas and Mindanao gave him "very good" ratings, the report said.

Aquino’s net score slightly rose in Metro Manila to +51 while his Mindanao score barely changed (+54 in June, +53 in March). His net score in the Visayas, however, plunged by nine points to +51.

In terms of socioeconomic classes, Aquino’s net score rose by nine points to +58 among the class ABC, although the gain was offset by the seven-point dip in his score among class D or masa and two-point drop among class E.

By sex, the survey result revealed that men are more satisfied with the President’s job as compared to women. President Aquino’s net score among men slightly rose to +49 from +47, while his score among women slid down by 12 points to +43.

Reacting to the latest SWS survey, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that while the June 3-6 survey indicated a slight dip in the President’s satisfaction ratings, “the figure remains in good range.”

"We have arrested the decline from the drop in the last quarter, when it was a huge 13 points," Lacierda told BusinessWorld.

“These latest survey numbers should confound the pundits who have been drumbeating a ‘massive drop’ in the President’s and the administration’s satisfaction ratings from March to June,” a separate statement posted at the government’s website said.

A political analyst meanwhile said that the drop is not surprising since the honeymoon is over.

Ramon Casiple of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms said in the report that “Manila and the rest of Luzon, as well as the D and E classes, are the ones currently struggling with the effects of rising consumer prices and have thus responded by giving Mr. Aquino lower scores.”

The SWS’s June survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide and sampling error margins of ±3% for national and ±6% for area percentages.