Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey: Arroyo's net negative 40 in Mindanao

Daily Tribune 03/17/2009

President Arroyo, who staked her claim for a mandate through the fraud-ridden 2004 elections by capturing the votes in the Visayas and Mindanao, is now overwhelmingly rejected in both regions with a net rating of net negative 33 in the Visayas and a net negative 40 in Mindanao, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The survey, conducted from last February 20 to 23, gave Mrs. Arroyo a net rating of negative 32 for the entire country after 59 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with her performance against only 26 percent expressing satisfaction.

The SWS nets out the periodic rating on Mrs. Arroyo’s performance by subtracting satisfied respondents from the dissatisfied.

Mrs. Arroyo’s latest rating was lower from a negative 24 (29 percent satisfied against 53 percent dissatisfied) during the last survey in December.

In September, the survey showed a net rating of negative 27 (27 percent satisfied, 54 percent dissatisfied) on Mrs. Arroyo. Her worst showing in the SWS survey was in July 2008 when she netted a negative 50.

In the Visayas, Mrs. Arroyo received a satisfactory vote of 28 percent against 61 percent who said they were dissatisfied in the latest survey. In the previous survey done in December, Mrs. Arroyo got a net rating of negative 14 or 38 percent satisfied against 52 percent dissatisfied.

In Mindanao, the SWS tallied 22 percent satisfied against 62 percent dissatisfied on Mrs. Arroyo in the February survey from a net rating of negative 22 (31 percent satisfied, 53 percent dissatisfied) in the most previous survey.

Dissatisfaction was highest in Metro Manila, where she received a net negative 44 points or 21 percent satisfied against 65 percent dissatisfied in the February survey.

The survey last December showed a worse net negative 45 rating or 19 percent satisfied against 65 percent dissatisfied in December.

In Luzon without Metro Manila, Mrs. Arroyo

received a net negative 24 performance rating or 29 percent satisfied against 54 percent dissatisfied from a net negative 23 or 27 percent satisfied against 50 percent dissatisfied in the December survey.

Mrs. Arroyo’s satisfaction rating among respondents in urban areas went to 26 percent in February from 27 percent in December, while dissatisfaction went to 58 percent from 56 percent during the same period putting her urban net rating at a net negative 32 from a net negative 29 earlier.

In the rural areas, Mrs. Arroyo did not fare any better with a net rating of negative 33 in February from a net negative 19 in December.

For the ABC social class, the SWS survey showed a net negative 19 or 27 percent satisfied against 46 percent dissatisfied in February from a net negative 28 in December.

Mrs. Arroyo was not better off with the so-called masa class or class D despite the various social programs her government initiated supposedly to improve the plight of the poor such as the conditional cash transfers.

Mrs. Arroyo performance rating hit a net negative 31 or 28 percent satisfied against 59 percent dissatisfied in the February survey from a net negative 21 or 30 percent satisfied against 51 percent dissatisfied in the December survey.

For class E, it went from bad, at net negative 31 in December, to worse at net negative 42 in the latest survey.

SWS said the latest survey interviewed 1,200 adults divided in random of 300 each in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with sampling error margins of plus or negative 3 percent for national percentages and plus or negative six percent for area percentages.