SWS: 35% of Pinoys see successful Aquino term

WITH nine months still left in President Aquino’s term, 35 percent of adult Filipinos expect he would to be a success- ful president, 26 percent said otherwise, while 39 percent said it was still too early to tell, the Third Quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

In the last survey on the success or failure of Mr. Aquino conducted in June last year, 29 percent said he would be successful, 21 percent said unsuccessful, while half of the respondents said it was still too early to tell.

Thus, Mr. Aquino’s net expectation of success score (successful minus unsuccessful) moved up just a point from +8 in June last year to +9 in September. The President’s highest net expectation of success score was +27 recorded in June 2013.

The latest SWS survey, conducted from Sept. 2 to 5, was noncommissioned and was first published in BusinessWorld. It used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide and had a margin of error of plus-orminus 3 percent.

SWS asked respondents the question, “In the long run, do you think President Noynoy Aquino will be a successful or unsuccessful President, or do you think it is too early to tell?”

In the September survey, Mr. Aquino got an “excellent” +75 net satisfaction score (83 percent satisfied minus 7 percent dissatisfied) from the respondents who expected him to succeed, which compares with June 2014’s +71 and June 2013’s +87, both also considered “excellent.”

SWS classifies a rating of +70 and above “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.”

Meanwhile, 40 percent were satisfied and 43 percent were dissatisfied among respondents who said Mr. Aquino will be unsuccessful, resulting in a “neutral” -3 net satisfaction rating, an improvement from “poor” -26 recorded last year but worse than “moderate” +20 in June 2013.

Among the respondents who said it is too early to tell, 62 percent were satisfied and 22 percent were dissatisfied, for a net satisfaction rating of “good” +40, up from “moderate” +18 in June 2014 but down from “very good” +57 in June 2013.

Between June 2014 and September, the President’s net expectation score increased in all geographical areas except in areas outside Metro Manila where it dropped by four points from +3 to a new record low -1. It was up by 4 points from -7 to -3 in Metro Manila, by 11 points from +12 to +23 in Visayas and by 4 points from +22 to +26 in Mindanao.

By socioeconomic classes, net expectation of success score increased among classes ABC by 6 points from +8 to +14 and among class E by 5 points from +17 to +22. It barely changed among class D at +6 from +5.