PNoy GOVT RATING DROPS - SURVEY /
AQUINO SAYS CHINA WON'T GO TO WAR
MANILA, APRIL 30, 2012 (MANILA TIMES)
Written by : Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz and Jaime R. Pilapil, Reporters -
THE satisfaction rating of President Benigno Aquino 3rd's administration has
dropped from "very good" to "good", the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS)
survey revealed on Friday.
At Malacañang, deputy spokesman Abigail Valte insisted that Filipinos remain
satisfied with the Aquino government despite the poll results.
According to the survey results, which were first published in BusinessWorld,
64 percent of respondents were satisfied with the administration's overall
performance, while 18 percent expressed dissatisfaction, resulting in a "good"
rating of +46.
The polling firm said that the latest rating was 10 points below the "very
good" +56 score the government earned in the last two quarters of 2011.
It noted that despite the drop, the administration's current satisfaction
rating is higher than the "good" +36 recorded in November 1998, when
then-President Joseph Estrada was in power.
That score is in sharp contrast with the "very good" +64 percent the "very
Aquino government enjoyed in its first few months.
Classes, areas The survey agency said that although the administration's
rating in Mindanao hardly changed (+56 to +55), it dropped 18 points to +46 in
Metro Manila, 13 points to +39 in Balance of Luzon (Luzon without Metro Manila)
and 9 point to +49 in the Visayas.
It added that by class, the government's satisfaction rating remained "very
good" in Class E (+53 to +52), but saw it plunge 16 points to +38 in Classes ABC
and 13 points to +44 in Class D.
19 issues According to SWS, the Aquino administration received a "very good"
rating on three issues, "good" on nine, "moderate" on four, "neutral" on two and
"poor" on one.
The issues for which the government received "very good" ratings were helping
the handicapped (+57, up from +55 in December), helping victims of disasters
(+50, down from +58) and promoting human rights (+50, up five points from the
"good" +45 it recorded three months ago).
The administration got "good" scores for promoting the welfare of overseas
Filipino workers (+49 from +46), foreign relations (+46 from +43), helping the
poor (+44 from the previous "very good" +51), transparency (+42 from a
"moderate" +27), developing tourism (+42 from +35), having clear polices (+41
from +34), fighting terrorism (+33 from a "moderate" +27), promoting foreign
investments (also a +33 from a "moderate" +27) and fighting crimes (+31 from
+34).
"The net scores for promoting migrant worker welfare, developing tourism,
transparency and having clear policies were new record highs," the polling firm
said.
The government garnered "moderate" ratings in the following issues:
reconciliation with communist rebels (+25 from +20), reconciliation with Muslim
rebels (+22 from +19), eradicating graft and corruption (+17 from +15) and
ensuring that no family goes hungry (+10 from +9).
Fighting inflation (zero from +8) and ensuring that oil firms don't take
advantage (unchanged at -3) comprised the "neutral" issues, the survey agency
said.
It added that respondents continued to give the Aquino administration "poor"
(-17 from -18) score when it comes to resolving the Maguindanao massacre case.
The polling firm classifies net ratings of +70 and above as "excellent"; +50
to +69, "very good"; +30 to +49, "good"; +10 to +29, "moderate", +9 to -9,
"neutral"; -10 to -29, "poor"; -30 to -49, "bad"; -50 to -69, "very bad"; -70
and below, "execrable."
The SWS survey, which was conducted from March 10 to 13, 2012, used
face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao and had margins of error of plus or minus 3 percent for
national percentages and plus or minus 6 percent for area percentages.
The survey agency said that the poll was non-commissioned and conducted on
its own initiative.
Reflect Pinoys' support During a press briefing also on Friday, Valte told
reporters that the poll results still reflect Filipinos' continued support for
the government.
"We recognize that the latest SWS survey on satisfaction with the Aquino
administration shows continued appreciation of the initiatives of your
government," she said.
"We have always maintained that surveys are a reflection of the national mood
and are valuable tools in feeling the pulse of our people at a given time," the
Palace official added.
"With 64 percent of respondents remaining satisfied with the Aquino
administration, we take this as strong support for the straight and narrow path
that we have consistently pursued," Valte said.
China will not go to war – Aquino Published :
Monday, April 30, 2012 00:00 Article Views : 1,194 Written by : JAIME PILAPIL
REPORTER
[PHOTO - CRAB HAUL: President Aquino stresses a point during the
harvesting of king crabs with (from left) Rep. Reynaldo Umali, technician Joel
Silvano and Gov. Alfonso Umali at a farm in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. EDWIN BACASMAS]
President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Sunday said that China will not engage the
Philippine military to press its claim on the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
"I think if you read the headlines of the People's Daily it's even worse.
There was one saying that we should prepare to hear the sound of canons. But
it's a question of style. They love doing that, using figurative speech,
metaphoric talk," he told reporters at the sideline of the Harvesting of King
Crab Festival in Bongabong town in Oriental Mindoro.
Mr. Aquino said that he instructed the military to deescalate the tension.
"Purposely, our actions have been geare towards de-escalating the situation.
It is to nobody's benefit and there are a lot of repercussions if any military
force happens to be employed here. So we think that [China's threat] is more a
statement in that lacks substance. Hindi indicative of the real intentions," he
explained.
On Friday, an official said that China's Armed Forces, in coordination with
concerned agencies, will safeguard their maritime rights and interests. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin also said that the Philippines' claim over the
Panatag Shoal is illegal and that the country should stop complicating the
dispute by bringing the issue before international bodies.
However, President Aquino said that Manila is determined to ventilate the
Philippines' complaint against China's aggression before international bodies.
"We are documenting everything that is possible to be documented so that when
we make our case in the appropriate body, we have the necessary evidence," he
said.
He issued the statement a day after China's most advanced vessel bullied
Philippine boats on Saturday.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said that the incident could mean a
violation of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions of Ships at
Sea.
"We will bring this incident to the attention of the Chinese authorities.
Bajo de Masinloc [Panatag] is part of Philippine territory. We will continue to
stand up and hold our ground," Hernandez said.
Don't rely on US Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Sunday said that the
country should not count on the help of the United States (US) and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in its territorial dispute with
China.
Santiago, an international law expert, explained that the Philippines may not
be able to get immediate help from the US because the latter owed China a lot.
"China is lending trillions of dollars to the US, we should not forget that,"
she told a radio interview. "We cannot rely for help from the US. It is going to
side with the Philippines or China depending on its own interests," she added.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin are set to meet their US counterparts today in what was dubbed as "2+2"
meeting in Washington, D.C. The Philippine officials are expected to raise the
Panatag dispute in their discussions.
Santiago said that Manila also should not rely on the Asean.
"We cannot rely on Asean to immediately respond to our call for a binding
code of conduct, even if they know that we are in the right position and that is
the right thing to do. They are afraid to lose a huge amount of money," she
said.
She expressed the belief that that China is bullying the Philippines to
establish to prove that they already had a practice of getting natural resources
from the South China Sea."
"The real goal of China is not to claim Scarborough Shoal or Spratly islands
or any of our regime of islands as part of its territory but to beat other
nations particularly the Southeast Asian nations in exploiting the natural
resources of those seas," she added.
She warned the country against entering into an agreement for joint
explorations of natural resources in the disputed areas with China.
"The DFA should not lose track of the fact that we are laggards in maritime
underwater technology," she said.
Pinoy fishers safe Meanwhile, Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) chief Lt. Gen.
Anthony Alcantara said that Filipinos are free to fish and explore at the
disputed shoal.
Alcantara said that the Navy and other units of the military are ready to
lend support to the Coast Guard to assert the country's claim and sovereignty.
He added that a Navy plane patrols the disputed area from time to time.
"Our armed forces, especially our Philippine Navy is backing up our coast
guard. They are ready for any contingency," Alcantara said. "There's no
prohibition for our fishermen. This is our natural fishing ground and wae've
been there long before," he pointed out.
At present, according to Alcantara, two Chinese surveillance ships, a coast
guard ship, six Chinese and six Filipino fishing vessels and a Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) boat are in the area.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
PH Headline News Online. Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved