SEN. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao scored the highest approval and trust ratings among all incumbent senators, according to an independent survey conducted in the first two weeks of August.
More than 70 percent of respondents on the Pahayag SONA by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. said they approved of Pacquiao’s performance as senator over the past 12 months, making the boxing legend-turned-politician the only senator to earn majority approval among respondents nationwide.
Pacquiao was followed by senators Mary Grace Poe, 45.8 percent; Juan Miguel Zubiri, 44.47 percent; Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, 42.20 percent; and Panfilo Lacson, 41.87 percent in the poll conducted from Aug. 1 to 11, 2020.
Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima notched the lowest total approval rating among incumbent senators, with only 13 percent indicating that they approve or strongly approve of her performance.
Rounding out the bottom five were Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., 15.33 percent; Cynthia Villar, 21.4 percent; Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, 23.07 percent; and Franklin Drilon, 27.07 percent.
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De Lima also garnered the highest total disapproval rating, with almost two-thirds of respondents saying they disapprove or strongly disapprove of her performance. Revilla followed with 57.60 percent; Villar, 56.67 percent; Pimentel,46.93 percent; and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, 45.93 percent.
Pacquiao was also the most trusted senator with 62.73 percent of respondents indicating high or very high trust in the senator. Pacquiao was followed by Go, 32.87 percent; Poe, 32.53 percent; Zubiri, 27.27 percent; and Lacson, 26.60 percent.
De Lima had the lowest trust rating at 7.2 percent. She was followed by Revilla, 7.87 percent; Pimentel, 13.20 percent; Villar, 14.07 percent; and Drilon, 15.4 percent.
All the President’s men
The three top Duterte allies who secured Senate seats in the May 2019 elections, however, notched relatively low approval ratings after one year on the job.
Go, former special assistant to President Rodrigo Duterte and long-time aide, ranked 4th and 7th in overall total approval and disapproval ratings. More than one-third of respondents or 35.2 percent said they either disapprove or strongly disapprove of Go’s performance over the past year.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, Duterte’s former presidential adviser on political affairs, ranked 17th with a total approval rating of only 28.33 percent.
Dela Rosa, Duterte’s first Philippine National Police chief at the height of the administration’s war on drugs, ranked slightly better than Tolentino at 16th overall with a total approval rating of 30.27 percent. However, his 45.93 percent total disapproval rating was the fifth highest among the 23 senators.
About Pahayag SONA
About 1,500 respondents who are 18 years old and above, registered voters and living in the Philippines participated in Pahayag SONA, an independent and noncommissioned online panel survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. The sample was proportionate to the registered voting population as of the May 2019 elections.
