PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III’s public satisfaction dropped to its lowest since the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest survey the Social Weather Stations.
Aquino’s net satisfaction rating was downgraded to a “moderate” +27 for the first quarter of 2016, according to a survey conducted March 30 to April 2, of 1,500 adults nationwide that had sampling error margins of ±3 points for nationwide percentages and ±6 points each for Metro Manila, Luzon areas outside the capital, the Visayas and Mindanao.
SWS describes a net satisfaction rating as the difference between the percentage of satisfied and unsatisfied respondents.
According to the SWS, the survey particularly bared a huge drop in the country’s capital.
The latest rating was five points below the “good” +32 recorded in December 2015.
This quarter’s net rating was also the lowest in a year since Aquino’s satisfaction dropped at a “moderate” +11 in the March 2015 survey.
The survey during that period was conducted in the wake of the January 2015 counter-terrorism operation in Maguindanao that killed 44 cops, more than 20 rebels and a few civilians, and eroded legislative support for a proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that was supposed to pave the way for peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The SWS attributed the five-point decline in Aquino’s net satisfaction rating to “declines of 23 points in Metro Manila, eight points in the Visayas, and one point in Mindanao, combined with a steady score in Balance Luzon.””¨”¨
Aquino’s net satisfaction stayed “very good” in the Visayas at +50, though down from +58 in December. At the same time, his rating remained “good” in Mindanao and steady at +30 as well as “moderate” in Balance Luzon, also steady at +23.”¨”¨
However, Aquino’s net satisfaction in Metro Manila fell to a “neutral” zero — from the “moderate” +23 in December 2015 — as the number of the dissatisfied in the nation’s capital matched those satisfied.”¨”¨
“This is a new personal record-low for President Aquino in Metro Manila, surpassing the previous record-low of ‘neutral’ +6 in June 2014,” SWS said in their summary of survey findings.”¨”¨”¨