In yesterday’s headline of the Inquirer, Social Weather Station came out once again with the latest (dis)satisfaction rating of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This means that at 54% to 55%, her grading card remains ‘virtually unchanged’. Let us touch on the highlights of this latest scoreboard quickly:
One, GMA earns negative ratings in all sectors – “34 in socio-economic Class D, 28 in Class ABC, 22 in Class E, 35 among men and 26 among women”.
Two, in Mindanao, GMA drowns from a “bad negative 40 to a poor negative 21” which means from 62% dissatisfied and 22% satisfied to 53% dissastisfied and 31% satisfied”.
Three, in Visayas, again GMA gets a “bad negative 33 to a poor negative 28 which means 61% dissatisfied and 28% satisfied to 57% dissatisfied and 30% satisfied”.
Four, GMA earns a “bad negative 37 in urban areas and a poor negative in rural areas”.
Five, GMA’s net rating outside the metropolis on the country’s main island worsened from a poor negative 24 to a bad negative 32”.
In the context of the above givens and with 12 more days to go before GMA’s last and final State of the Nation Address, the president’s advisers may have to do some work in ‘knitting’.
It is rather revealing that among Filipino adults in Luzon but outside of Metro Manila, the dissatisfaction as reflected by this June 19 to 22 survey even ‘intensified’ and that the rest of Luzon even “dropped from 29% in February to 23% last month”.
It remains a rather crippling constant that Metro Manila remained highly critical of GMA with “65% of respondents dissatisfied and 19% satisfied for a bad net rating of negative 46”. On a nationwide net rating basis, GMA gets a “bad negative 31” which means “56% dissatisfied and 26% satisfied”.
And what exactly it is we hear from GMA’s rabid ‘defenders of the faith’? They are saying as they have always said as a matter of bureaucratic protocol if not motherhood statement that “performance is not popularity”. Thus, the Palace is said to have advised the “public to listen to GMA’s SONA come 27th July 2009 to know more of her accomplishments” which coincides with the anniversary celebration of the Iglesia ni Kristo.
This is what U/Sec. Gary Olivar said – “We will state this: The President governs for performance and prosperity not for popularity”. According to him, the forthcoming SONA outlines and summarizes GMA’s “substantive achievements’ during her watch. Well said, perhaps or shall we not say – “tell it to the Marines”?
Since surveys are never known to have been acceptable to whom it may have “disfavored”, then we can begin to look at these statistical findings as ‘diagnostic’ or an enlightened estimate on the state of affairs. Is RP a healthy functioning democracy? Is the president whom people have elected via a supposed-to-be fair, clean and honest elections except that the “hello Garci” points to something else, really aboveboard, beyond reproach and rebuke all throughout her term in the presidency (invariably ‘entrusted’ or possibly ‘stolen’)?
Rather than merely shrugging off the normative value of surveys which appears to be an act of intellectual snobbery if not arrogance, why can’t the advisers of the President also commission a polling circuit just so to do an honest-to-goodness reality check? Surveys, to the extent that they can correctly capture the true signs or symptoms of something problematic, remain a normative guide that must be taken into account however disfavored Malacanang maybe be by this SWS’ latest results.
It challenges reflection what surveys really end up doing. Do they embarrass the president? Do they paint a thorny picture of governance? Do they take away trust in the president’s ability to do the right thing? Are surveys to begin with, scientific?
In other words, something ought to be dysfunctional somewhere if the situation is such that a persistently moving down negative satisfaction and trust ratings are always registered in the scoreboard of GMA than her spin doctors may be willing to accept to be true. Come to think of it, even Obama suffers from this same fate and some leaders in Latin America.
For instance, based on the Harris Poll of March 23, 2009 alone, results do show that ‘while a majority of Americans give President Obama’s overall performance high marks, the same is not the case in his performance on the economy’. In short, ‘53% gives Obama negative marks while 47% gives it positive ratings’. And what about Jacob Zuma of South Africa with surveys saying he will do a good job as president at 40% and the same 40% saying otherwise, with 20% reflecting the “don’t know” response?
Again, to the extent that such negative ratings could deliver truly negative impact upon the presidency of GMA and her brand of governance, from where I stand, it would seem to destroy the path toward that final day in 2010 when she ought to officially turn over the presidency to the next successor. Sadly, GMA is leaving the gate of the Palace more unpopular than when she first came in. For one, to my mind, surveys evoke some notions of “moral embargo”, true or not. Well then, has GMA been that ‘evil’ or bad our president, pray tell?
Popularity: 1% [?]
The problem with a SONA that talks about achievements is that people can look around, see themselves falling behind inflation and getting poorer, see government behaving badly, see no new jobs, see the LTO and police angling for bribes, see flare-ups in rice and gas shortages, hear about bombings . . .
To BE TOLD that so much has been accomplished . . . it rings very very hollow.
She would be well advised to speak to directly to the people’s reality.
Joe
According to World Bank the reason why the Philippines’ economy isn’t growing is that Filipinos are not investing in the Philippines. Filipinos don’t see a point in it. Big business doesn’t see a point in changing the status quo because they are profiting from the current system.
again, joe, define “people”. each of the 80 million filipinos or so has his/her own personal “reality”. do you want the president to address each and everyone of them? do you claim knowledge of everything that’s in every person’s mind, or are you just regurgitating “motherhood statements” from partisan media, self-promoting politicians and inveterate haters of the president
state of the nation address is a general appraisal of the country’s progress, i.e., its achievement vis a vis its set goals. it’s not about the dissatisfaction of the losers, the personal misfortunes of individuals, or the result of their stupidities and bad choices. stop thinking of the president as the source of all good and bad things that happen in the country. she doesn’t have unlimited power. she’s not even the entire “government”.
Bencard,
“the personal misfortunes of others, or the result of their stupidities or bad choices”
This is where I part ways with your values, and the values of BongV and Benign0 and, I suspect, the majority of the greedy empowered who build their wealth on the backs of the impoverished. It reflects a callous intellectual point of view that serves to justify the status quo, and keeps people “in their stupid places”.
When a child is born, that child is innocent. If he happens to be born to a family of seven brothers and sisters in a poor fishing village, he is dealt a different lot in life than you or I were dealt. He may not be able to afford school uniforms or exam fees. He may have to go work the seas to help put food on the table. He does not have the same OPPORTUNITIES that people with a little money have. He can’t help it if he is ignorant, if he can’t get educated. The government determines that by requiring uniforms and assessing exam fees. He can’t help it if his Dad sells his vote for some cash, to help with the food.
So don’t give me that schtick about misfortunes of others, because those misfortunes are IMPOSED upon innocent children by people with values such as those you espouse. The child made no “bad choice” in selecting the family, country, or government that handicap him for a LIFETIME.
When he is older he is stuck in the same rut as his parents. No real opportunity to GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS VILLAGE and have a life. Or the squatter’s villages in every city. Or those crammed industrial buildings up by the Manila ports. Or the grass shacks in the hills, hiding out with the other NPA gangsters.
And the callous call him ignorant and stupid, a victim of his choices.
Joe
you know, joe, you really have an uncanny similarity with djb in the way you argue. there you go again distorting and misrepresenting what i said. i said the SONA is NOT about the miseries of the losers, the people who made bad choices or those who have been dealt with a bad hand. i never said a child born in poverty made a “bad choice”. that’s a strawman argument that you are so adept at making.
Positive Money Belief: Poor or Rich People Can Be Just As Evil.
Myth to Bust: “Rich People are Evil”.
I can never understand the myth that rich people are evil. Are they really? Are you saying that poor people cannot be evil? I can only think of the many philanthropists out there (eg. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, etc) who have given their money for worthy causes. I have got many friends, who by local standards, will be considered rich. Believe me, they are no different. In fact, I found many to be just as kind-hearted, generous and responsible.
There are as many evil people in the rich as there are poor. The amount of material wealth that one has is no indication of his or her values whatsoever. Let us not judge a person prematurely and without reasonable basis.
Positive Money Belief: Money is A Measure of My Positive Thoughts.
Myth to Bust: “Money only comes from hard work”, “There is a limit to how much I can earn”.
What is money? Money is a form of energy exchange. It stores value by our applied meanings. It is a measure of confidence – of how much you believe that having it can be used for your future purposes, of the value that you place on your own goods and services and of how much others are willing to do an exchange with you for. It can therefore be said to be a measure of your positive thoughts on worth.
The misfortunes can be imposed, but these are impositions that can be overcome with will and ambition. That’s the price of admission to liberation. Only those who are willing to be brave can be free.
BongV,
You are right, of course. I was referring to those in power, within government, who choose to enrich themselves while the impoverished struggle. Bill Gates truly impresses me. I did considerable work for a children’s charity in Los Angeles. Stephen Spielberg was the founder and main beneficiary. He is not only rich and talented, he is a very good man.
Joe
Bencard,
If you need a definition of “people” you have been sitting in your easy chair too long and need to return in a hurry. I’d suggest you spend a little time outside the Fort and tour some of the poorer outlying areas, or visit with the cab drivers and ask how the family is . . . be prepared for an earful . . .
I’m Joe, only Joe.
Joe
Joe,
You may be right.
But I wish I can hear GMA defend her 50 or so foreign trips in 30 or so countries around the world along with her entourage of security, household folks, and patronizing politicians.
If your notion is right, then it would seem that GMA will just be making a fool of herself.
I guess, it will all sound a ‘grand utopia’.
To be fair to Mrs Gloria Arroyo, her economic and development policies have indeed been largely for the better and that cannot be denied. Since she was prescribing economic medicine, the nation should have been rallied to austerity and with a steely focus on development. Unfortunately she was never able to do that since she was never able to chop down corruption in government. She dispenses political largesse indiscriminately. She has interfered in the governance and electoral processes of the most numerous Church with so called “donations”. Her legitimacy has always been in doubt and she will exit from the palace with that lingering doubt. She gives a pardon to Erap without considering the larger consequences. She tried doing a Marcos but backtracked when the White House wouldn’t tolerate it (and doing so would pull the plug out of her economy). Now she’s exploring the possibility of being elected by Parliament as a PM. In short Mrs Arroyo was the right person to speed up our development but she had questionable motives.
And motives are what the public perceives as well as the fact that these economic reform benefits still need to reach the many. Economic reforms do not immediately translate into benefits. Sometimes I wish that the Philippines were socialist and had a leader who had vision, democratised and instituted reforms. The countries of Eastern Europe (who have joined the EU) had abyssimal PCI in 1989 and now they are on the cusp of being a developed country. It took them 20 years. We had EDSA just three years before their own revolution. Look where we are now?
But this socialist route is pure fantasy. Our Party goers in Utrecht and at home who still fantasise of taking power ala Mao are in the same league as Mrs Arroyo. Their motives are questionable!
at least Arroyo is in power.
utrecht is still outside the kulambo.
Well, even those ghosts who voted twice for her can clearly see she has no intention, nor has she ever, of accomplishing anything other than abject failure in the eyes of the World.
Poverty? No solution.
Abu Sayafs? No solution.
Diablos (jobloss)? No solution
Economy? No solution….o yeah…she want con-ass to solve this matter. I guess, she will justify this in her SONA, that this will do no harm to anybody.
In fact the only governmental “accomplishments” of her… relate directly to her corruption, lies, and her implants.
I would content that not much runs away from those facts of corruption, “lapses in judgment”, patronage politics, political largesse as they have been universally-held and publicly perceived quite apart from how news developed around these various forms of abuse when one is president.
But then again, anyone can always contend contrary-wise by stating with some arrogance that absent final judgment by a court of law, all these have become mere pieces of hearsay, to the extent that even a Miriam Santiago called the WB report as ‘double hearsay’.
I don’t know but all these ‘histories’ will be written the way they really all happened soon as she leaves office at noon on 2010, the appointed day.
Gloria Arroyo is the most divisive President we have ever seen. Since
Marcos. She aggravated her divisiveness by stealing the election.
In the coming SONA. We will focus on her Breast Implants. Rather on
what she will be talking. A President who has lost credibility
still selling to us what she has done. Leadership is trust between
the leader and the one lead. If the trust is broken. The leader can
never lead.
Two kinds of people under GMA: victims or beneficiaries, take your pick.
O, ayan, KILOS NA!!! One-on-one BF versus Panlilio, pareho naman silang “nakinabang” under GMA na nagkaroon sila ng popular na plataporma “…for the greater good” and for their personal good sa politiko.
third kind – PEOPLE NOT UNDER GMA
In fairness to GMA, we may need to follow what has taken place to our country in the 70′s- the borrowing of money. We have lived and struggled to pay debts. For a large proportion of the money were not invested, but consumed. Illiquidity is not a stimulant for new investments to create employment. Yes, there were many expert solutions of creating employment through mining industry, tourism, call centers and many more but new options for economic development require financing and preparing the local people to face economic uncertainties.
The lack of ability and oftentimes political will have led this country to enter a vile circle of borrowing and paying….
Worst, people are bought during elections and borrowed money were stolen.
The Speech may focus on employment , financing and industry investments so that people will be aware of what to expect.
Why talk about achievement when ratings cannot support the fact? Is this pride? As Benigno said: Power does not come from pride. :)
Or GMA listened to Benigno that Power comes from achievement? hehehe
Achievements are positive results of governance such as high employment rate in the domestic market, not sending them overseas.
as far as i remember, the Bataan Nuke, was the primary reason why Philippines have external debts. that nuke power generation plant was built but never been used. and that external debts has nothing to do with today’s of GMA’s so-called performance of governance. in the first place, the revolutionary government led by Enrile/Ramos that made C. Aquino to become our 1st woman President, should ignore or declare this debts as not external debts…because the Philippines never used nor operated this plant to help rebuilding the Republic of the Philippines economy…there are some international laws that deals with this matter…and i believe those lawyers such like Enrile knew it….or there were some blessings to overthrow Marcos regime from the known lenders such as IMF or WB…to acknowledge those debts once they succeeded…that’s why for me…Edsa 1 was not only a revolution…it was also a hoax or a misled revolution :)…kung binulsa ni Marcos yung pera…dapat sinabi nila sa LENDERS na habulin si Marcos sa Hawaii at doon sila maningil….kunsabagay, kung ginawa nila yn…magiging pangit ang image natin sa buong mundo…anyways…ano na nga ang imahe natin sa transparency international, kahit World Bank umaray na recently.
Ngayon, GMA govt were borrowing money to develop the PNR, the NBN-ZTE deal, at iba pang Govt projects, pero may mga lumabas na allegations of fraud and corruptions….yun ang 50% performance ni GMA…ang depensahan ang Gobyerno niya sa alegasyon hehehe
the difference between poor countries and rich countries HAS TO DO WITH GOVERNANCE RATHER THAN RESOURCES. Competency in public administration and efficient service to its own people will result to progression.
GMA’s State-of-Nation address may not say anything about a serious issue. Filipinos are not competitive — wages in Pinas are high, productivity is low. This is true even for companies already using global management techniques!!!
By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:54:00 07/17/2009
MANILA, Philippines—After 50 years in the Philippines Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. has decided to shut down its manufacturing plant in Las Piñas City on Sept. 30, a move that will displace around 500 employees.
In a briefing on Friday, Goodyear Philippines Inc. managing director Dave Morin said the local manufacturing facility was no longer operating competitively in terms of costs due to the erosion of its export business.
“Our business model here has become uncompetitive on the cost side, so we need to make some changes on the cost structure. We need to close our manufacturing operations here and just import tires from our sister companies in the region,” Morin said, adding that the company would still maintain its presence in the country through its dealer network.
Philippine government has the best economic leaders headed by GMA…the move of Goodyear Phils is the best economic solution they know…as what our Government striving for…import goods and send Filipino workers abroad…ang gleng gleng talaga.
what that means is there is someone out there who is willing to be paid less than the already underpaid pinoy employees.
It would seem that GMA improved slightly her nationwide rating, for during the 2004 presidential election, GMA garnered 40% (39.99%) of the valid votes cast which, of course, means that fully 60% were “dissatisfied” with her performance as the incumbent and did not want her to continue as president by voting for the other presidential candidates.
Five years later, the latest SWS survey shows that the percentage of those “dissatisfied” has gone down to only 56%. Is this not an improvement of her rating by 4% (60% minus 56%)?
Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas. senior vice president of the University of Asia and the Pacific, writes in the Inquirer about Pinoys-in-Pinas being overpaid and the continued closings of factories and manufacturing.
from : http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090718-215998/Is-the-Philippines-de-industrializing
Filipinos are overpaid when they work in local factories, banks, colleges or other offices. Those who can and are able to leave the Philippines to get jobs in Australia or Florida or Dubai, they become normal-paid or a bit under-paid. If this is what Professor Villegas has concluded and if this is what the Goodyear-plant-closing indicates, what happens next? Philippine year has 13 months.
it’s not that pinoys are overpaid – it’s that someone else is willing to be more underpaid than PInoys
labor cost in China, Vietnam or Indonesia is cheaper against the Philippines…yes I agree to Dr Villegas…the Govt knew that those manufacturers are pulling out their facilities from Philippines for a long time and they never made any long term plan to solve this labor shortage due to competition with our neighboring countries. it was easy for them to say that the labor cost were the primary reason why foreign investors are pulling out their businesses in our dear country. and it is unfair for the labor-class people that the salary they were getting is higher as compare to other country, but in reality their wages are not enough to sustain a good quality life, because the minimum wage across the country is not enough for transportation, food, shelter, medicine, electricity bill, water bills…comparing with China/Vietnam/Indonesia…there are many unbalance factors why the labor cost is high as compare to other countries, and why the minimum wage cannot sustain a good quality life…in a manufacturing set-up…and it depends what products they are manufacturing…
let say for Goodyear…it is a rubber material…that comes from Rubber trees…does anyone from here that knows where to get this material that is nearest to Philippine ports…well the biggest rubber plantation is in Sabah, Malaysia…while the biggest supplier of rubber raw material is from Indonesia…meron ba nito sa Pilipinas? wala…so it is clear na dapat lang talaga mag pull out ang GOODYEAR sa PILIPINAS…kasi hindi naman talaga labor cost ang mahal…ang cost ng materyales ( may pagka tungaw pala itong si Dr Villegas- gagamit pa ng sample Goodyear pa).
you will be surprised to know that good year imports rubber from the philippines, specifically, kidapawan, north cotabato.
the rubber is exported to cheaper factories in asia and re-exported to the philippines as tires.
the philippine plant was started in 1956 – apparently, the plant needs to be retooled and retrofitted. however, the cost of upgrading the factories is likely too high and the total landed cost of the product still provides a profit margin since the tires are still being made in asia.
I take, with a grain of salt, the supposition that there is high labor costs in the Philippines that kill the manufacturing sector – as espoused by noted-economist Villegas.
It must be something else. For him to say RP is de-industrializing is mere theoretical fiction.
NEVER industrialized in the first place – what de-industrialization are you folks talking about.. =)
Labor-costs in the Philippines being very high. Maybe it is because of Pinas staffing practice where there is a supervisor looking over the shoulders of every cashier or one supervisor supervising the work of two laborers.
look at at this way:
you have a voice activated dishwashing machine – the plates get cleaned after you say “inday pakihugas muna ng mga pinggan” :D
In the officeworkplace environment, it is a culture-thing. Pinoys-in-Pinas always thinks of their subordinates as seriously “…needing supervision” which is balanced with “ay, pipintasan lang ako kung magprisinta, hintayin ko na lang kung ano ang i-utos sa akin.”
I still remember applying for a summer-job in Manhattan and I thought I’d be a go-fer (the work’s only for summer : 3-1/2 months) while the guy I talked to was expecting contributions from me for improvements to their money-transfer technology platform (between Manhattan, London, Sydney, Hongkong).
So now years later, I know I have described clearly the positions I have openings for when at least one out of 4 applicants actually walk away saying “mismatch between their interests and the requirements of the position”.
there’s theory X (In this theory, which many managers practice, management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can. They inherently dislike work. Because of this, workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. source:wikipedia)
and there’s theory Y (In this theory, management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to Papa, to them work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. source:wikipedia)
and there’s theory Z – For Maslow, ‘Theory Z’ was concerned with differentiating scientifically between two apparently discrete Weltanschauungen seen in self-actualizing subjects. As far as Maslow could tell, there were non-transcending self-actualizers and transcending self-actualizers. Good shorthand is D-SA and B-SA. D for D-realm. B for B-realm. D-SA is the autistic child who stacks and stacks, over and over. Or the savant who plays Chopin. Exactness, perfection, etc. B-SA is the musician who can’t not play. He must push the music into the future. Maslow further proposes that it is necessary to select B-SA individuals for tasks which require a transcendent vision, or a “third view.” The B-SA can see both realms, whereas the D-SA is caught in the mechanomorphic maelstrom stacking groceries.
For Ouchi, Theory Z (focused on increasing employee loyalty to the company by providing a job for life with a strong focus on the well-being of the employee, both on and off the job. According to Ouchi, Theory Z management tends to promote stable employment, high productivity, and high employee morale and satisfaction.)
***
offhand, i avoid “theory x” companies like the plague =)
Someone from PASG claims that Good Year is into smuggling and this having been under close watch, it decided to fold tent and close shop. As to its truth, I am not sure.
i want to say is that GMA sona will be a frame work of her ambition, she didn’t give her report in her past SONA because all of the things that she said on her SONA were just paper that she wrote down on a paper and let her speech be heard by everybody.