FAVORABLE SURVEY RATING VINDICATES SENATES
EFFORTS TO CHECK WRONGDOING OF ARROYO GOVT

Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the favorable public satisfaction rating obtained by the Senate compared to four other top government institutions in the latest survey vindicates the principled efforts of the senators in checking the scandals that have rocked the Arroyo administration and in resisting Malacañang s efforts to curtail their investigation powers and to abolish the Senate.

Pimentel said it is very significant to note that while the Senate received a positive 26 percent net satisfaction rating, the Arroyo administration was given a dismal minus 3 percent satisfaction rating in the nationwide poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations on Feb. 24-27.

If the SWS is right, the people appreciate the performance of the Senate not only as defender of their basic rights but as an effective legislative chamber, the opposition senator said.

It may also be an expression of the peoples disgust over the blatant moves by the President and her allies to abolish the Senate.

In the first quarter 2007 survey of the SWS, the Senate received a satisfaction rating of 51 percent and a dissatisfaction rating of 25 percent.

On the other hand, the Arroyo administration was given a satisfaction rating of 43 percent and a dissatisfaction rating of 40 percent.

The House of Representatives obtained a positive 11 percent net satisfaction rating, the Supreme Court positive 16 and the Cabinet minus 2 percent.

According to the survey, the Senates net satisfaction rating of +26 in February was much higher than its previous ratings of +18 in November and +14 in September.

Pimentel observed that the Arroyo administration received a failing mark at a time when it was under heavy criticisms within the country and abroad over the spate of extra-judicial killings of leftist activists and journalists.

He said this also coincided with the release of the survey of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) which tagged the Philippines as the most corrupt country in Asia, dislodging Indonesia from the number one spot.

During the survey period, Pimentel said the senators took turns in criticizing Malacañang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for deploying soldiers in depressed barangays in Metro Manila, the failure to prosecute military officers and men responsible for the political killings and the continued persecution of leaders of leftist party-list organizations.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her minions should read the handwriting on the wall. They should stop acting as if they were despots and as if the country were under totalitarian rule. They should stop the repression of legitimate right of the people to seek redress of grievances through peaceful protests, he said.

Pimentel said the President and her minions seem unmindful that the more they misuse their powers and trample upon civil liberties, the more they become unpopular and alienated from the people.