Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s survey rating, notwithstanding a big four percentage point increase, was affected by the black propaganda waged by a few politicians who have an axe to grind, the latest of which is her stand on the national budget controversy.
This was the statement of House Majority Leader and Albay Rep. Fredenil Castro in the wake of the Social Weather Stations recent survey result that showed Arroyo’s net satisfaction rating at “poor” during the first quarter of 2019 but was “up by 4 percentage points”—from -21 in December 2018 to -17 in March 2019.
“It is but natural that the [survey rating of the] Speaker would be affected by black propaganda about the budget,” Castro said, referring to the issue on insertions where the Senate and the House exposed each other’s alleged insertions.
However, what is important was the eventual approval by both houses of the Congress and its signing by President Rodrigo Duterte into law of the national budget to push the priority programs of the administration, Castro added.
“That is what is important—the passage of the budget and the implementation of the programs and projects that will benefit the people including the Build Build Build program, universal health case, free tertiary eduction and many others,” Castro said.
He also lauded Arroyo for immediately personally attending to the concerns of earthquake victims in the badly hit areas of Pampanga and ensuring that everything will return to normalcy as soon as possible following the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck parts of Luzon on Monday afternoon.
“The Speaker immediately went to the earthquake-stricken areas to provide aid and comfort to the victims. This is tha real public service, now matter what came out in the surveys,” he added.
Earlier, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora said the recent earthquake showed the kind of leadership Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has–-focused on helping the victims.
To speed up the delivery of assistance to the victims, she cut short her participation in scheduled events to see for herself the rescue and rehabilitation efforts following the earthquake, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan, chairman of the House of Representatives’ panel to the Commission on Appointments, said.
“The style of Speaker Arroyo has always focused on getting results and work done rather than on the approval ratings. Her approval ratings still rose despite the virulent black propaganda that was hurled against her during the intramurals on the budget,” Zamora explained.
“The House under Speaker Arroyo crafted a democratic and transparent allocation of govt projects and services among all districts regardless of political affiliation. I fully agree with Executive Secretary Medialdea who was correct in saying there was nothing unconstitutional about the budget proposed by the House,” Zamora added.