Radio Veritas survey yields poor feedback for ‘Tuwid na Daan’

“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and “Matuwid na Daan” are among the slogans of President Benigno Aquino III that catapulted him to presidency in 2010.

After five years in office, almost half of Filipinos are not convinced that his campaign promise was able to curb corruption in the country, a recent survey conducted by Church-run Radio Veritas showed.

According to the “Veritas Truth Survey,” conducted during the second quarter of the year, 552 or 46 percent of respondents said the President failed in his anti-corruption program.

In the survey that asked 1,200 respondents, it said 41 percent were “unsure” while only 13 percent believed President Aquino succeeded in his fight against corruption.

“This survey is a public perception. I hope the government would see the views of its boss,” Father Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, told reporters on Thursday.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who chairs the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) committee on public affairs, said the President still has one year in office to make “serious” his campaign versus corruption in government.

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani echoed the same thoughts, pointing out the public perception will serve as “wake-up call” for the President.

“This is a reminder to PNoy that there is still tomorrow. One year is a lot of time to redeem yourself,” he said.

Bacani said the people cast doubts if President Aquino’s campaign is to fight corruption or it is aimed at targeting his political rivals.

Based on the same survey, the Senate of the Philippines was perceived as the most corrupt with 49 percent, followed by the House of Representatives with 48 percent.

The others were Cabinet Secretaries, 41 percent; Judiciary, 40 percent; Office of the Vice President, 38 percent; Office of the President and local government unit (provincial), 30 percent; local government (city/municipal), 28 percent; and local government unit (barangay), 26 percent.

Pascual said the public perception on local government units was less corrupt since they are in the frontline and responsive to the people.

The Veritas Truth Survey was conducted among 1,200 respondents from both urban and rural areas nationwide. Respondents were chosen on the basis of stratified random sampling, with +/-3 percent margin of error.