DESPITE an eight-point decline in Vice President Jejomar Binay’s net satisfaction rating, 65 percent of Filipinos said they were satisfied with his performance, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.
The survey, conducted from Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2014, also found that 20 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Binay’s performance. This gave the vice president a net satisfaction rating of 44 percent (satisfied minus dissatisfied, after rounding).
In contrast, Senate President Franklin Drilon received a net satisfaction rating of 28 percent (53 percent satisfied minus 25 percent dissatisfied) while House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte managed 11 percent (36 percent satisfied minus 25 percent dissatisfied).
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno received a net satisfaction rating of 10 percent (36 percent satisfied minus 26 percent dissatisfied, after rounding).
The net satisfaction rating of the Cabinet as a whole fell by one grade to a neutral +9, down by nine points from a moderate +18 in September.
The Binay camp attributed the high net satisfaction rating to the continued trust of the public, despite what they described as a smear campaign launched against him.
“The result of the recent SWS survey clearly indicates that Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has still the continued trust and full support of the Filipino people despite the intensified campaign of lies and pattern of deceit waged by his political detractors in the Senate to discredit his accomplishments and track record as a proven public servant,” said his spokesman, Rico Paolo Quicho.
The Fourth Quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,800 adults nationwide, 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon and Mindanao, and 900 in the Visayas with sampling error margins of +- 2 percent for national percentages, +- 6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and +-3 percent for Visayas.
The survey showed Binay garnered a “good” rating, with his score of 44 percent in December.
This was an eight-point drop from his 52 percent rating in September 2014, however.
The same survey also showed recently that the people see the Vice President as the best leader to succeed President Aquino in 2016, garnering 37 percent of the votes as opposed to Senator Grace Poe’s 31 percent and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II’s 26 percent.
The Vice President said he is grateful that the people still judge him by his work.
Quicho also said Binay is optimistic that “the misinformation being peddled against him that affects public perception will soon end with majority of the Filipino people realizing that surmises and conjectures cannot be the substitute for the truth.”
“The Vice President remains firm that the allegations being hurled against him are baseless and bereft with any merit, which would not stand in an impartial and fair judicial scrutiny,” he added.
Two plunder complaints against Binay have been filed with the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II and the Makati Science High School.
He was also accused of owning a 350-hectare estate in Rosario, Batangas, a log cabin in Tagaytay Highlands, and maintaning his interest in several companies through dummies.
The Vice President has repeatedly denied the accusations, insisting that allegations are part of the operation to diminish his chances of winning in the 2016 presidential polls.
Quicho said the Vice President remains “focused and committed to fulfill his objective to promote the welfare of the poor and further address the growing needs of the Filipino people.”
In the same survey, Drilon’s satisfaction rating fell one grade to “moderate.”
Belmonte, who saw a two-point drop from September, maintained his “moderate” rating.
The net satisfaction rating for the House of Representatives was a moderate 20 percent, down from September’s 21 percent.
Sereno’s net satisfaction rating was also moderate, at +11, barely moving from +10 in September.
The Supreme Court’s net satisfaction rating fell by one grade to a moderate +26 in December, down by six points from a good +32 in September.
SWS said its quarterly surveys were conducted on its own accord and are not commissioned.With Vito Barcelo
