President Aquino’s House allies downplay dip in ratings

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MANILA — Allies of President Benigno Aquino III at the House of Representatives on Monday downplayed the decline in his popularity and trust ratings saying these will rebound in time.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., in a text message to reporters, said he believes the President’s ratings will bounce back anytime.

“I am sure it (ratings) will bounce back,” he said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, for his part, said the President should not be distracted and should not be worried by the drop in his ratings as shown in the latest Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys.

“The drop is not alarming and not cause for worry. It was expected as a trend for all sitting presidents because of the enormity of the problems confronting our country and people raging from our territorial dispute with China to joblessness and high prices of basic commodities,” said Evardone in a text message to House reporters.

He, however, stressed that compared to past presidents, “President Aquino’s rating is still high.”

“The Aquino administration just have to pursue with more vigor its campaign against corruption and to have inclusive growth. The economic growth must be felt by the ordinary people,” he added.

Evardone said the President’s low trust ratings “should serve as a wake up call to some members of the Cabinet and heads of various agencies to step up their efforts to deliver services to our people.

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Recent surveys conducted by Pulse Asia and SWS showed that President Aquino’s ratings dropped to the lowest levels since he assumed office in 2010.

MAGDALO party-list Rep. Francisco Ashley Acedillo, meanwhile, urged the chief executive to continue implementing more pro-people reforms.

“I’d rather see that President Aquino continues his good policies and programs, and with the two-year remainder of his term, find renewed vigor to govern the country with integrity and decisiveness,” he said.