IF there are clear winners in the latest surveys by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia, says the ruling political party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), they’re none other than their two top leaders: President Duterte, the party chairman; and Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, party president, who both enjoy high trust and satisfaction ratings from the public.
Duterte’s satisfaction rating in the SWS survey stood at 67 percent, while Pimentel managed to obtain 60 percent, or net satisfaction ratings of +48 and +46, respectively. On the other hand, the Pulse Asia survey showed the approval rating of Duterte at 80 percent and Pimentel at 55 percent.
The PDP secretary-general, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, lagged behind Duterte and Pimentel, with 34-percent satisfaction rating in the SWS survey and 33-percent approval rating in the Pulse Asia poll.
In the September 24 to 30 Pulse Asia poll, Alvarez obtained an awareness rating of 89 percent. But what is not readily apparent in the survey result—he garnered a 33-percent approval rating and 17-percent disapproval rating—is that the undecided numbered 47 percent, or almost half of those surveyed.
If almost half of all 1,200 respondents in the survey had no opinion as to whether they approved of Alvarez’s performance as House Speaker, that can only mean one thing: they know nothing or very little about what’s happening in Congress.
That raises questions: Isn’t the media giving him the importance that he deserves as head of one of two chambers of the legislature? That’s possible. If media has been giving him a bad reputation for speaking his mind on controversial issues, then his disapproval ratings would have gone through the roof. But it’s only 17 percent, per Pulse Asia. Which leads us to conclude: Not too many know what he’s doing at the helm of Congress.
That’s what his colleagues in Congress want to rectify.
House leaders have expressed confidence that Alvarez’s ratings would rise once Filipinos, particularly those living on the edge of poverty, realize that a number of bills passed under his leadership would directly benefit them and boost national development.
For Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn F. Garcia, Alvarez’s competent leadership in the House is reflected in the passage of such important bills as the Magna Carta of the Poor, universal health coverage for Filipinos, the protection and welfare of caregivers and medical scholarship and return service program. Apart from these, she said, Alvarez facilitated the passage in record time of the 2018 General Appropriations Act.
Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the committee on dangerous drugs, said Alvarez has showed firm resolve and strong political will: “Strong leaders make unpopular decisions and policies not to be popular, but to deliver what is good and just.”
Rep. Rodito Albano, a member of the House contingent to the Commission on Appointments, said the Speaker is a decisive and hardworking leader: “The surveys do not reflect everything the House has done under [his] able leadership. Whenever there are issues about governance, he is always supportive in ferreting out the truth through inquiries so that the appropriate remedial legislative measures are subsequently crafted. He also ensures that legislative priority is given to the approval of pro-people, pro-poor bills.”
Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the committee on justice, said the Speaker is not a popularity-conscious leader as shown by his decisions and performance: “While we are confident his ratings will rise again, we’ve seen that Speaker Alvarez is a leader who bases his decision on what is right and necessary, and not on what is popular. That is the mark of a true and strong leader.”
Their endorsement of Alvarez’s leadership is not without basis.
The Congress web site revealed that a total of 30 House bills have been enacted into law since the 17th Congress started in July last year. These include House Bill (HB) 5633 or Republic Act (RA) 10931 that will promote universal access to quality tertiary education by providing for free tuition in state universities and colleges and state-run technical-vocational institutions; HB 5159 or RA 10932 that will strengthen the provision of emergency health-care services by prohibiting the demand of deposits or advanced payments for the confinement or treatment of patients in hospitals and medical clinics; and HB 5225 or RA 1029 that will establish the free Internet-access program in public places in the country.
Earlier, Congress reported that, in its first year alone, it made short work of more than 200 bills, many of them now awaiting Senate approval. If that’s the case, then it’s been red-hot with frenzied activity that seems to be under the radar of media or the public at large.
Finally, there’s PDP Vice Chairman and Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, who remarked: “The survey results show continued strong support for PDP’s platform of change. The surveys show a third to a half of the respondents were undecided about Speaker Alvarez. I think this is due to the political noise centered in the House in the past couple of months. I am confident that he will bounce back as people start feeling change happen in their lives.”
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.