Filipinos have rated the Aquino administration well because of the government’s conditional cash transfer or 4Ps program, but majority said their quality of life did not improve at all since President Benigno Aquino III took office in 2010, results of the first The Standard Poll showed.
The Standard Poll, conducted by resident pollster Junie Laylo, showed that 52 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with the performance of the Aquino administration while 24 percent were dissatisfied, resulting in a net satisfaction rating of +28.
The administration got its highest satisfaction rating in Mindanao at 61 percent while the highest dissatisfaction rating was posted in Southern Luzon/Bicol at 31 percent.
Respondents who said the country is headed in the right direction cited the 4Ps as their main reason.
So far, the CCT program, the government funded dole, has covered more than 4 million households and benefited at least 11 million children below 18.
Of all the government’s social protection programs, 72 percent of the respondents said they were most aware of the 4Ps, followed by PhilHealth (32 percent), senior citizen benefits (6 percent), and government housing (2 percent)
The survey, conducted from May 8 to 18, had a sample size of 1,500 at 300 respondents each from the National Capital Region, North/Central Luzon, South Luzon/Bicol, Visayas, and Mindanao.
A third of the total number of respondents said they were beneficiaries of the government’s dole program.
By area, there were more Mindanao-based beneficiaries at 47 percent, followed by those from Visayas and South Luzon/Bicol at 28 percent each.
Of the respondents who benefitted from the 4Ps, 73 percent were from the Class DE while 38 percent came from rural areas.
At least 90 percent of the beneficiaries said they were satisfied with the program, with those coming from Mindanao and those belonging to Class E posting the highest satisfaction rating at 92 percent and 91 percent, respectively.
The conditional cash transfer program has bolstered the approval, satisfaction, and trust ratings of Aquino himself.
The President received a net approval rating of +24 (47 percent approval and 23 percent disapproval), with majority approval posted in Mindanao at 54 percent.
He received a net satisfaction rating of +28 (50 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied), with Mindanao again posting the highest satisfaction rating at 58 percent.
Majority of the respondents said they have “much” trust (55 percent) in the President while 19 percent said they have “little” trust in Aquino.
However, despite the positive ratings, a clear majority of Filipinos considered their quality of life as unchanged.
Only 20 percent of respondents said they were better off now with Aquino at the helm while 65 percent said an Aquino presidency made no difference.
At least 14 percent of Filipinos claimed their lives even got worse during the past five years.
The Standard Poll had error margins of +/- 3 percent for national and +/- 6 percent for regional results.
All regions were represented in the survey.
Laylo, The Standard’s in-house pollster, has 25 years of experience in political polling and strategic research.