Filipinos' satisfaction with officials in the highest positions next to the President as well as top state institutions have soared to all-time and personal highs, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.
Vice-President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte have posted their highest ratings since the start of their term, the SWS said in a report originally published in BusinessWorld Friday.
Net satisfaction ratings for the Chief Justice, a position held by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio during the survey period, also bounced back to a positive level from a dismal low in May.
The Cabinet, Senate and the House of Representatives meanwhile reached record highs while satisfaction with the Supreme Court was seen at its highest in almost two years.
The SWS net satisfaction rating is the difference of the percentage of respondents which said they are "satisfied" wit an official's performance and those who are "dissatisfied."
Binay's net satisfaction rating rose to "excellent" at +76 in August from a +70 in May, thus marking his highest record since he took office in 2010.
This compares with the record +82 seen during the term of then Vice-President Joseph Estrada in April 1994.
Net satisfaction for Binay also topped the "very good" rating for President Benigno Aquino at +67, reported last week by SWS from the same survey.
Enrile meanwhile marked a new record high by posting a net satisfaction rating of +65 or "very good," up from his "good" rating of +48 in May.
Belmonte, for his part, saw a double-digit rise to a "moderate" +20 from his "neutral" rating in May.
The highest rating ever received by a House Speaker was +46 for then House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. in June 1997.
Carpio, who acted as chief justice prior to the appointment of Ma. Lourdes Sereno, saw ratings improve to a "neutral" +3 from the record low of -44 given to Chief Justice Renato Corona in May, when he was facing impeachment.
New record highs were meanwhile seen for the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Cabinet.
Net satisfaction for the Senate jumped to "very good" at +67 from +49 or "good" in May, topping its previous best of +58 in March.
The House meanwhile beat the record high of +27 in March 1999, by getting a score of "good" at +42 in August, up from +30 in May.
A new record was also seen by the Cabinet, which was rated "good" at +33, rising from a "moderate" +19 in May. This is higher than the +27 record in March 1999 and June 1997.
The controversy-ridden Supreme Court was also rated "good" at +35 in August, climbing from a "moderate" +13 in May.
This is the highest rating for the high tribunal since +36 in November 2010, although it failed to beat the record +39 in March 1999.
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