Public support plunges for Arroyo

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the most unpopular leader in the country since democracy was restored in 1986, the country’s leading pollster said.

The Social Weather Stations agency said in a statement that Arroyo registered a net satisfaction rating of minus 38 in a poll in the last week of June. It said only 22 per cent of the 1,200 respondents were satisfied with Arroyo’s performance while 60 per cent said they were dissatisfied.

Serge Remonde, a palace spokesman, said the low rating of the president was expected due to high prices of rice and oil which the people blamed on her and the administration. "We consider it as a continuing challenge," he said.

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newspaper quoted another palace spokesman, Anthony Golez, as saying: "A lot of people are mistaken in blaming the government for it when it is something no Filipino can stop, not even the president."

Annual inflation in June was at a 14-year high of 11.4 per cent, pushed higher by oil and food prices.

The Philippines imports most of its fuel needs and is the world’s biggest importer of rice this year.

Remonde said that the president was also "paying the high price" for pushing for the enactment of the expanded value-added tax (eVAT) and other "very unpopular issues".

"To whom much responsibility is given, much is required. It’s never easy to be president of the Philippines," said Remonde, chief the Presidential Management Staff which is the workhorse of the Office of the President.