Villar tops SWS satisfaction poll

Former Senate president Manuel Villar Jr. has received the highest public satisfaction rating among top government officials in a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The quarterly survey was conducted prior to Villar’s resignation as Senate president last week.

The Third Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey found 61 percent satisfied and 17 percent dissatisfied with the performance of Villar in the last three months.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Sept. 24 to 27, used face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

SWS said Villar’s net satisfaction rating declined by nine points from a “very good” 52 percent in June to a “good” 43 in September.

“It has been over 40 in all but one quarter since SWS rated his performance as Senate President in September 2006,” SWS said.

The latest survey also found 58 percent satisfied and 24 percent dissatisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro, for a net rating of +34.

“Vice President De Castro’s latest net satisfaction rating is a good +34, three points down from a good +37 in June 2008,” SWS said.

“His net performance rating has been over +30 in all but three quarters since he took office four years ago.”

Meanwhile, Speaker Prospero Nograles’s rating has remained negative at -12 (24 percent satisfied and 36 percent dissatisfied).

“Nograles’s new net satisfaction rating went to poor -12 in September after hitting a record-low -15 in June,” SWS said.

“It was also a poor net -12 in March 2008, when SWS first rated his performance as Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

The survey also showed 29 percent satisfied and 33 percent dissatisfied with Chief Justice Reynato Puno, giving him a net rating of -3.

“Net satisfaction with Chief Justice Puno has remained neutral since the SWS rated his performance in March 2007. His latest net rating of -3 compares with +3 previously,” SWS said.

The SWS describes net satisfaction ratings of +50 and above as “very good,” +30 to +49 as “good,” +10 to +29 “moderate,” -9 to +9 “neutral,” -20 to -10 “poor,” -49 to -30 “bad,” and -50 or lower “very bad.”

Meanwhile, the SWS said public satisfaction with top government institutions barely changed in the latest survey.

The September survey found 46 percent satisfied and 26 percent dissatisfied with the performance of the Senate, or a moderate net +21, six points down from a moderate +27 in June 2008.

The latest survey also found 38 percent satisfied and 28 percent dissatisfied with the House of Representatives, or a moderate net +11, the same as in the previous quarter.

It found 39 percent satisfied and 30 percent dissatisfied with the performance of the Supreme Court, or a neutral net +9, just three points up from a neutral +6 in June 2008, SWS said.

The survey found 31 percent satisfied and 34 percent dissatisfied with the Cabinet, or neutral net -3, barely changing from the neutral -9 in June, SWS said.

Sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for the rest of Luzon were applied in the survey.

At Malacañang, presidential adviser on political affairs Gabriel Claudio said yesterday it was too early to predict the chances of any one candidate in the 2010 presidential elections.

“We’re a long way from 2010, and it would be too early for anybody to rejoice,” he said. “We are all aware of how dynamic public standings can be.”

Villar tops MILF poll

In Davao City, Villar topped the presidential poll of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s official website, Luwaran.com.

Former President Joseph Estrada, who launched an all-out war against the separatists in 2000, landed at the bottom of the online poll.

The MILF website first posted the question “Who do you want to be president in 2010?” last Nov. 1 and a total of 963 voters have already clicked in their choices.

Villar garnered 242 votes or a total of 25.1 percent of the total votes in the online poll.

Vice President Noli de Castro placed second to Villar with 218 votes or 22.6 percent of the total.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Loren Legarda were in third and fourth places with 176 and 171 votes or 18.3 percent and 17.8 percent.

Sen. Richard Gordon emerged fifth with 60 votes or 6.2 percent, while Sen. Manuel Roxas II was sixth with 51 votes or 5.3 percent.

Estrada got 45 votes or 4.7 percent of the total votes in the online poll.

It could not be ascertained if those who participated in the Luwaran.com survey were all MILF members, or if there were those who browsed the website regularly or even at random.

In a separate poll, the MILF posted the question, “Who is the Moro’s most hated Filipino leader today?” wherein voting started last Sept. 20 and ended Nov. 1.

There were at least 1,487 who replied to the online question. Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol topped the list with 536 votes or 36 percent of the total.

Mrs. Arroyo emerged the second Filipino leader most hated by the Moros with 406 votes or 27.3 percent.

Estrada ranked third, with 169 votes or 11.4 percent, closely followed by Roxas with 168 votes or 11.3 percent.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, who staunchly opposed the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain, also figured in the most hated list with 74 votes or five percent.

Others in the list of Filipino leaders the Moro hated most were Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, 50 votes or 3.4 percent; Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, 19 votes or 1.3 percent;

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, 16 votes or 1.1 percent; former senator Franklin Drilon, 15 votes or 1 percent; while Press

Secretary Jesus Dureza and Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan got 12 votes each or 0.8 percent, and Makati Rep. Teddy Locsin got 10 votes or 0.7 percent. philstar.com