Manila Times
Makati


Malacanang yesterday taunted the office of the vice president (OVP) over its very poor ranking in a survey conducted by businessmen belonging to the Makati Business Club (MBC), noting that this may be a result of vice president Jejomar Binay’s attacks against the administration.
In a statement, communications secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said Binay’s flight from President Aquino’s cabinet and his subsequent attacks on the administration caused his office to suffer the largest decline in the MBC’s satisfactory rating.
“It may be reasonable to infer that this represents the negative feedback of the business community on the vice president’s criticisms against the administration in the aftermath of his resignation from the cabinet,” Coloma added.
Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, meanwhile downplayed the survey, saying the MBC could not feel the services rendered by office of the vice president because they were not the target beneficiaries of Binay’s programmes.
He added that the OVP is serving the poor, not the rich members of the MBC.
“If they are not feeling the services of the OVP, that’s because they can afford to get healthcare from high-end hospitals in the countries and abroad,” Salgado said in Filipino.
“If they have legal problems, members of the MBC can afford to get the services of top-notch lawyers. Our overseas Filipino workers and their families are not capable of doing this.”
Salgado said the OVP provides services to poor who cannot afford hospitalisation and legal services, among others.
Binay was presidential adviser on OFW affairs and headed the housing and urban development coordinating council during his stint in the Aquino cabinet from 2010 until he resigned in June this year.
The two camps were reacting to the results of the MBC executive outlook survey for the second semester of the year that were released on Thursday.
The survey was conducted among senior business executives from July 6 to August 7 and ranked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as the best performer in government with the OVP as the worst.
Coloma thanked the MBC for giving “a renewed vote of confidence to the departments and agencies in the economic and financial management sector” as shown by the MBC’s executive outlook survey.
“The survey results mirror and affirm the vote of confidence extended by the international community to the country as reflected in successive upgrades in investment rating, as well as significant improvement in global competitiveness rankings,” he said.
“We are also pleased to note that the office of the president improved its standing from number 36 to number 27, with a net satisfaction score of + 29.5,” Coloma added.
The OVP had a net satisfaction rating of -76.3%.
Binay’s spokesman said the opinion of the respondents in the MBC poll was not representative of the sentiments of the people.
“With all due respect, 67 wealthy businessmen in Makati cannot represent the sentiment of our people nationwide. They cannot be expected to give a true and objective assessment of the performance of all government agencies, most especially the OVP,” Salgado said.