Pulse: PNoy's approval rating drop 'not significant'

MANILA - President Benigno Aquino III saw the appreciation and trust of majority of Filipinos of him dip in the first quarter of the year amid several issues that bogged down his administration.

In a report from Pulse Asia, Aquino’s approval rating in terms of his performance dropped three percentage points to 70% in the survey done between March 19 to 26 this year. This translates to seven in 10 Filipinos who appreciate the performance of Aquino.

His trust rating also fell to 69% from 74%.

Pulse Asia explained, however, that the changes “are not considered significant in light of the relevant error margins.”

The survey firm also considered as “marginal” the double-digit movements in Metro Manila and the Visayas.

In Metro Manila, his performance and trust ratings each dropped 12 percentage points to 57%.

In the Visayas, his performance rating dropped 10 percentage points to 72%, and his trust rating by 12 percentage points to 69%.

In Balance Luzon, his performance rating was unmoved at 68%.

In Mindanao, he garnered 80% approval rating, up two percentage points.

His trust rating in Balance Luzon, meanwhile, was also unchanged at 70%. In Mindanao, his trust rating shed one percentage point to 76%.

In the economic class ABC, Aquino’s performance was approved by 62%, a drop of nine percentage points.

Class D was unchanged at 72%, while class E saw a slide of nine percentage points to 70%.

His trust ratings also slid to 62% (five percentage points) in class ABC, 71% (two points) in class D, and 69% (11 points in class E).

Among the issues that faced Filipinos in the first quarter include the ongoing pork scam investigation, the arrest of Globe Asiatique founder Delfin Lee, power rate hike, and the arrest of the top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The first quarter of 2014 also saw the conclusion of the peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“This nationwide survey is based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level,” Pulse explained.