Palace says distrust rating won’t affect GMA

By Sherwin C. Olaes

11/16/2007

A Palace official yesterday said President Arroyo is not affected by the latest Pulse Asia survey which showed a rise in her distrust rating, claiming the Chief Executive’s ultimate concern is governance, not popularity.

“Polls go up and down, but the President is focused on keeping a steady hands on the ship of the state. She is dedicated to improving the economy, political stability and peace and order,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in a statement, stressed.

He made mention of the coming Christmas season as the government’s priority to be able to give comfort and food to the Filipino poor.

“In this holiday season, she believes we must all come together and help those in our country who are less fortunate by bringing food and comfort to all people of the nation,” Bunye said.

Based on the survey conducted last October, Mrs. Arroyo’s distrust rating rose to 46 percent from 37 percent last July.

The survey also showed that 23 percent still trust her but 31 percent of the respondents were still undecided.

Majority of Metro Manilans were found to heavily distrust the President, giving her a high 51-percent distrust rating.

The lowest, but still a big plurality, comes from the Visayas, which gave her a 41-percent distrust rating.

Pulse Asia noted that new calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation over the ZTE- National Broadband Network (NBN) deal, bribery scandal and cash dole-outs to government officials likely dragged down her approval rating.

Mrs. Arroyo, for her part, however, lashed at broadcast media for “sensationalizing” news stories at her expense.

Speaking before the Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) officials at Oxford Hotel, Clark, Pampanga, on Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo noted that a sensational conduct of mass media is short-lived and would negatively hurt the media companies in the long run.

“By getting a lot of listenership or viewership because you sensationalize, you may gain something in the short-run but as Jun (Nicdao, KBP official) said and also as Butch (Canoy, KBP president) has been saying, if in the long run that contributes to instability that also reduces economic activity and also reduces your capability to have a sustained advertising market,” she said.

“The people want results, not rhetoric; action, not political posturing,” she added.

The President, however, lauded some media groups for being careful in publishing reports about the explosion at the House of Representatives in Quezon City.

She also called on the broadcast media to “please convey our message to our people and our friends here and abroad that the Philippines and your government shall not rest until we get to the bottom

of this tragedy and hunt down and punish the perpetrators.”

Mrs. Arroyo stressed while the KBP looks forward to new beginning and new challenges as its theme, her administration is doing the same.

“Indeed, it’s time for a new beginning and when we talk about a new beginning, we talk about moving on. It’s time for the nation to move on and focus on the issues that are important for our future just as the KBP is focusing on technology that is important for your future. For the future of our country, we’re talking about creating more jobs, lowering prices or at least keeping them from going up, providing affordable housing, providing access to education for all our children,” she said. PNA

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