‘PNoy Focuses Reforms, Not Approval Ratings’

Malacañang said Thursday the main focus of the administration is the implementation of reforms in the country and not public approval ratings.

“We will note that the decline in the performance approval — I believe it is from 73 percent to 70 percent—is a marginal decline and well within the usual statistical margin of error,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. told reporters during a press briefing.

Coloma was commenting on Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan Survey for the First Quarter of 2014, which showed a slight dip in the President’s satisfaction and trust ratings.

“We have pointed out in previous briefings that our main concern is the implementation of the reforms and of the major programs in the Philippine Development Plan,” he said.

While there will likely be ups and downs or ebbs and flows in public opinion survey results, he said, the Aquino administration remains focused on the attainment of its development plan objectives.

In a separate statement , Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said public confidence and trust on President Aquino remain overwhelming.

“Today, Pulse Asia reported, in its Ulat ng Bayan survey for the first quarter of 2014, that 70 percent of Filipinos approve of the President’s performance, while 69 percent continue to trust him.

According to the report, there have been only marginal movements in the President’s performance and trust ratings,” Valte said.

“The most recent sampling of public opinion is the latest manifestation that the President’s efforts, his governance, and the administration’s mission to empower our people by instituting permanent change, are indivisible from the aspirations and efforts of our people as a whole.”

The Filipino people will remain the President’s main source of strength, she said, adding that with this in mind, the President and his team will persevere to accelerate even further the country’s pursuit of progress, as it treads the straight path to inclusive growth.