Survey says majority of Pinoys approve of Villar's work
as Senate President

More than 60 percent of almost 90 million Filipinos expressed their approval of Senate President Manny Villar and gave him the highest performance rating among the top officials of the land, according to the Pulse Asia survey.

The latest survey from pollster Pulse Asia was conducted February 21 to March 8, 2008 with 1,200 respondents culled nationwide.

In the said survey, 62 percent of those polled expressed their approval of Villar's work as senator and as leader of the Upper Chamber of Congress.

Villar said he is elated over the public's trust and expressed assurance that he will continue to work for the people's welfare, especially the poor.

"We will use this survey as an inspiration so we can be motivated to pass more pro-people bills and to work on quashing corruption as the root of many ills of society today," Villar said.

Under the survey, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo got 23 percent performance rating, lower than the 39 percent she got in the same survey conducted in October 2007.

Following Villar is Vice President Noli de Castro with 57 percent; third is former House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia with 38 percent; and Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno with 30 percent performance rating.

Villar, Nacionalista Party president, also got the smallest number of Filipinos polled who expressed their disapproval of his performance at 13 percent.

Majority of the respondents expressed disapproval of President Arroyo's work at 51 percent, followed by Puno (34 percent), de Venecia (29 percent) and de Castro (18 percent).

Villar is the top performer among national officials in the similar survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations in December 2007, with 59 percent net rating.

With the +59 rating, Villar is the second Senate President since 1986 to get the highest satisfaction rating in the SWS, following former Senate President Neptali Gonzales who got +61 in 1992.