Aquino trust and approval ratings rise, says Pulse Asia

Filipinos' appreciation of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III as well as confidence in his administration bounced back and almost hit their peaks again, results of a new Pulse Asia survey showed.

Aquino's approval and trust ratings both reached 78 percent in August, comparable to his 79 percent approval rating and 80 percent trust rating in October 2010, his highest scores since he took office.

The August results improved significantly from Aquino's May performance where approval and trust ratings dipped to their lowest of 67 percent and 65 percent respectively.

Filipinos have also become less critical of the President's work with disapproval and distrust ratings both dropping to 4 percent in August from 10 percent in May.

The number of respondents who were undecided on their assessment of Aquino also eased to 18 percent in terms of both approval and trust in August from 23 percent and 25 percent respectively.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7.

The President received majority approval and trust ratings across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes, Pulse Asia said.

He enjoyed relatively higher approval and trust ratings of 83 percent and 86 percent respectively from the poorest segment (class E), compared to 72 percent and 77 percent from class ABC respondents.

The richer population also seemed to be more ambivalent in their attitude toward the President.

Those who said they were undecided on Aquino's performance comprised 24 percent of the class ABC respondents versus 16 percent of class E respondents. In terms of trust, 19 percent of class ABC respondents were unsure while only 12 were in class E.

Filipinos are most appreciative of the Aquino administration’s work in the area of fighting criminality (66 percent) and corruption (64 percent) as well as equal enforcement of the law (59 percent).

Receiving the highest disapproval ratings, meanwhile, are the government's efforts at controlling inflation (26 percent), fighting corruption (22 percent) and improving workers' pay (15 percent).