> Arroyo ‘has done little or none at all’ – PDI readers

FINAL GRADE:
Arroyo ‘has done little or none at all’

What most PDI readers say

By Lawrence de Guzman
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “has done little or none at all.”

This is the response from the majority of readers who answered a questionnaire printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the performance of Ms Arroyo in her 8 1/2 years of stay in Malacañang.

Called “State of the Nation 2009—GMA’s Final Grade,” the Inquirer asked readers to grade the performance of the President in addressing five national concerns: fighting graft and corruption, reducing poverty, keeping peace and order, enforcing the law equally and delivering social services.

Ms Arroyo’s lowest mark was on addressing graft and corruption, with 91.5 percent of respondents saying she has done little or nothing at all.

The President’s highest mark was on the delivery of social services, with 14.4 percent saying she has done well.

She got negative net ratings (the difference between the “has-done-well” rating and the “has-not-done-well/none-at all” rating) in fighting graft and corruption (-86.6), reducing poverty (-76.0), keeping peace and order (-62.7), enforcing the law equally (-76.7) and delivering social services (-54.3).

Readers were made to indicate in a multiple choice format if they thought the President “has done much” or “has done little” in dealing with each national concern. They were also given the option to indicate if they were “undecided.”

Running from July 23 to July 26, the questionnaire elicited 880 valid responses which were sent to the Inquirer by way of text messages, e-mail and fax.

Fighting graft

A total of 805 people, or 91.4 percent of the respondents, believed that the President “has done little or none at all” in curbing corruption since she assumed office in 2001.

Only 43 people (4.9 percent) said that Ms Arroyo “has done much” in this aspect, while only 32 respondents or 3.64 percent said they were “undecided.”

Reducing poverty

A total of 745 people (84.7 percent) said Ms Arroyo “has done little or none at all” in curbing poverty in the country.

Seventy-six respondents (8.6 percent) said the President “has done much” in dealing with poverty reduction. There were 59 individuals (6.7 percent) who said they were “undecided.”

Keeping peace and order

A total of 653 people (74.2 percent) thought that Ms Arroyo “has done little or none at all” in pushing for peace and order in the country.

A total of 101 respondents (11.5 percent) said the President “has done much,” while 126 people (14.32 percent) said they were “undecided.”

Enforcing the law equally

A total of 739 people (83.9 percent) of the respondents said the President “has done little or none at all” in enforcing the law equally in the country.

Only 64 respondents (7.3 percent) said Ms Arroyo “has done much” for justice to reign impartially, while 77 (8.7 percent) were “undecided.”

Social services

A total of 605 people (68.7 percent) of respondents said the President “has done little or nothing at all” in the delivery of social services.

A total of 127 respondents (14.4 percent) said Ms Arroyo “has done much,” while 148 (16.8 percent) were “undecided.”

The first four concerns included in the Inquirer study were adopted from the “most urgent national concerns” itemized in Pulse Asia surveys from March 2007 to February 2009.

The fifth concern—delivery of social services—was included in the list by Inquirer editors.

Profile of respondents

Respondents came from different parts of the country, and a few from abroad.

Respondents from Metro Manila accounted for a third of those who took part in the study, while readers from other parts of Luzon outside Metro Manila accounted for a fourth of the respondents.

Less than 7 percent came from the Visayas, and 10 percent from Mindanao.

About a fifth of the respondents chose not to put their location.

The remaining 4.5 percent of the respondents came from Filipinos abroad—Australia, Bahrain (3), Canada, Dubai, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan (2), the Netherlands (2), Oman, Qatar (2), Saudi Arabia (7), Singapore (3), UAE (2) United Kingdom (2), United States (10) and Vietnam.

The bulk (61.2 percent) of the responses were sent through text messages, 36.6 percent via e-mail, and 2.2 percent through fax.

Results of the study do not reflect the views of all Inquirer readers as they only included the views of the readers who saw the questionnaire, took the time to answer it, and had access to a mobile phone, Internet or fax to send their responses.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090728-217569/Arroyo-has-done-little-or-none-at-all