The state of the people

How do Filipinos in general rate their conditions and their government as of the first half of 2012, according to the Social Weather Stations surveys?

Let us look at all the data—not only for the last two quarters, or the last two years, or for the current and previous administrations, but for all the administrations since open opinion polling began, in the time of President Cory Aquino.

True economic health. Poverty, hunger and joblessness went through a bad patch early in the year, but recovered in the second quarter—see my Inquirer columns “Painful statistics” (5/12/2012), “Economic pain abates” (6/30/2012) and “Hunger and joblessness subside” (7/7/2012).

The state of economic suffering has not yet really moved from “The ‘lost decade’ of the 2000s” (7/14/2012). (To me, growth in Gross National Product is irrelevant if it does not relieve economic suffering. Whenever SWS surveys whether people “feel” the GNP, most say they do not.)

Yet, despite their hardships, most Filipinos see improvements in their lives coming soon—as seen in “High optimism continues” (6/9/2012), for the first quarter, and will soon be reported for the second quarter also.

The quality of governance. Of every five Filipinos, three are satisfied, one feels neutral, and only one is dissatisfied with the President’s performance. I call that “Steady on course” (6/15/2012).

A soon-to-be-published SWS report will show that general satisfaction with the performance of the national administration stayed “good” (from +30 to +49 in net satisfaction) in the second quarter of 2012.

The specific subjects with “good” grades in the administration’s report card for the second quarter are: “promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers,” “providing enough electricity for the country,” “defending the country’s territorial rights,” “helping the poor,” “distributing lands to deserving tillers under land reform,” and “foreign relations.”

Note that the people give substantial credit to the administration’s efforts to defend Philippine territory, despite our obvious military weakness, as well as to its efforts to help the poor, despite the great patience being required from the poor. The ratings on helping the poor in P-Noy’s time are above all earlier ratings, as far back as Fidel Ramos’ time; I would interpret this as public confidence in the Conditional Cash Transfer Program in particular.

The subjects with scores of “moderate” (from +10 to +29) in the second quarter are: “fighting terrorism,” “fighting crimes,” “reconciliation with Muslim rebels,” and “eradicating graft and corruption.”

The ratings on fighting corruption are now modestly positive, whereas previously they were almost always either “poor” or “bad,” going back to the time of Cory Aquino. SWS will soon issue a special report on general public opinion about corruption, in the second quarter, and follow it up with a survey of enterprise managers on the same topic soon.

Subjects that score “neutral” (from -9 to +9, i.e. statistically indistinguishable from zero) in the second quarter are: “reconciliation with communist rebels,” “budget management,” “ensuring that no family will be hungry,” and “fighting inflation.”

Only two subjects got ratings of “poor” (from

-10  to -29), namely “ensuring that oil firms don’t take advantage of oil prices” and “resolving the Maguindanao massacre case with justice.”  The Maguindanao case has been an open wound ever since the massacre in late 2009.

Other officials and institutions. Last Thursday’s BusinessWorld report showed the Vice President at “excellent,” the Senate President at “good” and the Speaker of the House at “neutral,” for the second quarter.  No problems there.

On the other hand, the ex-Chief Justice got a “bad” net -44, the worst ever for that office. Seven out of every 10 Filipinos had hoped for conviction in the impeachment trial, both as of March 10-13, after the prosecution had done its turn, and as of May 24-27, after the defense had responded and he himself had testified, implying that the soon-to-come verdict was popular.

Under the P-Noy administration, both the Senate and the House have been getting better performance ratings than under previous administrations, going back to the time of Cory Aquino.

What is most unusual in the second quarter is the Supreme Court’s lower rating than the Cabinet. Perhaps it is due to the revelations that came out in the impeachment trial.

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SWS takes pride in its two fellows honored by Ateneo de Manila University at a special academic convocation last Thursday:

Technocrat Jose P.  de Jesus received the Lux  in Domino award, which is specifically for an outstanding alumnus, “in recognition of his lifelong career as a public servant, throughout which he pursued the highest standards in process and work output, implemented practical solutions to complex national issues, and exhibited selflessness, humility, and genuine concern for his colleagues and for the countrymen he serves—as a true  man-for-others  would.”

Historian Reynaldo C. Ileto, author of “Pasyon and Revolution,” received the Gawad Tanglaw  ng Lahi “for his exemplary achievements in proclaiming the Filipino image as that of a vibrant people making history by living the traditions, aspirations, and spirituality intrinsic to their identity while drawing on these strengths to transform society, and by establishing a new way of understanding the past that is truly meaningful to the building of our nation.”

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Contact SWS: www.sws.org.ph or [email protected].