By Catherine S Valente/Manila Times/TNS
The Benigno Aquino administration has obtained a higher disapproval rating in its efforts to obtain peace in Mindanao in the aftermath of the Mamasapano incident, a Pulse Asia survey showed.
Results of the survey conducted from March 1-7 were released on Tuesday.
The survey had a plus-minus 3% margin of error and confidence level of 95%, according to the pollster.
Pulse Asia said “no religious, political, economic or partisan group influenced” its survey process, which it conducted on its own “without any party singularly commissioning the research effort.”
The survey showed an increase in public disapproval of the government’s peace efforts by eight percentage points, or 29% from 21% in November 2014.
Nonetheless, 40% of the 1,200 respondents still approve of the government’s peace efforts, although the March 2015 figure is lower compared to the 45% approval rating in November.
The Mamasapano incident continued to hog the headlines during the survey period from March 1-7.
The incident sparked public outrage that pulled down President Benigno Aquino’s approval and trust ratings to their lowest since he took power in 2010.
The survey results also showed that the number of Filipinos who cited the urgency of “increasing peace in the country” rose by three percentage points-to 22% in March from 19% in November last year.
Despite the increased disapproval rating in the government’s peace efforts, public assessment of its work on key concerns remains “largely unchanged,” Dr Ana Maria Tabunda, Pulse Asia Research Director, said in a statement.
“For the most part, the performance ratings of the Aquino administration in March 2015 do not differ significantly from those recorded four months ago,” Tabunda added.
Responding to the survey results, Malacanang said it would step up efforts to address the public’s top three urgent concerns.
“In the next 15 months, the administration will intensify efforts at job creation while maintaining fiscal discipline in order to rein in inflation,” Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said in a statement.
“Good governance is imperative in achieving inclusive growth,” he added.
Pulse Asia noted that the Aquino administration has failed to score a majority approval rating on the 12 national issues performance-rated in the poll.
“As far as the top three urgent national concerns of Filipinos are concerned, disapproval is the plurality opinion toward the administration’s efforts to control inflation (41%), public opinion is split three-ways as regards its initiative to increase workers’ pay (33% approval, 35% indecision and 33% disapproval), and appreciation is the plurality view concerning its anti-corruption work (42%),” it said.
The government also got “almost the same approval and indecision figures for its initiatives to create more jobs (37% versus 33%) and control population growth (37% versus 33%),” while “public opinion is split threeways with respect to its performance in the area of increasing the pay of workers -33% approval, 35% indecision, and 33% disapproval.”
Aquino: low rating over government’s peace efforts
