Malacañang shrugged off the results of Pulse Asia’s first-quarter survey showing President Aquino’s trust rating has nosedived, relegating him behind Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Vice President Jejomar C. Binay after the botched Mamasapano operation.
Pulse Asia’s latest survey ranked Drilon with the highest approval rating at 49 percent and trust rating at 44 percent.
He was followed closely by Binay, who got 46 percent (approval) and 42 percent (trust) ratings, compared to Mr. Aquino’s 38 percent and 36 percent, respectively.
Asked if this should be a cause for concern at the Palace, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. would only say that “approval and trust ratings provide valuable feedback that the highest officials may use as guidance in their policy- and decision-making.”
Despite the drop in President Aquino’s ratings, Coloma gave assurance that the President remains “firmly determined to fulfill his promises to his bosses—the Filipino people.”
“In all his actions and decisions he [Mr. Aquino] abides by his sworn duties and serves in accordance with his judgment on what is best for the nation—regardless of the ebb and flow of public sentiment and popularity ratings,” Coloma added.
Meanwhile, without saying the word sorry, President Aquino begged “in all humility” for public understanding, even as he vowed to go after erring officials who should be held answerable for the killing of Special Action Force (SAF) 44 commandos, 18 Moro rebels and five civilians in the so-called Mamasapano massacre.
Speaking at the Philippine National Police Academy’s Lakandula Class of 2015 graduation rites in Silang, Cavite, on Thursday, President Aquino acknowledged that the death of the SAF commandos he sent on a mission to serve warrants on high-value terrorist targets hiding out in Moro Islamic Liberation Front territory “has become part of our national consciousness.”
“To every Filipino who has felt failure or has been hurt because of the events related to this operation, it is with the abiding humility that I ask for your deepest understanding,” Mr. Aquino said.
The President added that he is aware that “no words will suffice to explain the deaths of our brave policemen. A report or a speech can never reflect the entirety of what is felt by a parent who lost a good child. All I can do, after saying all that must be said, and after doing all that must be done, is to ask for your deep understanding.”