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According to the 2007 Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey Review, more than 54% of Filipinos are satisfied with how democracy works in the Philippines.

SWS President Dr. Mahar Mangahas reported the 2007 results on January 31, 2008 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center in partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stftung and the AIM Policy Center.

In the said survey, a wide range of results are apparent. The highest net satisfaction was for the overall foreign policy of the Philippine government while the third highest net satisfaction was on fighting terrorism. However, the administration’s performance was low in issues of inflation and corruption. As for matters related to the Mindanao peace process, most Filipinos are satisfied with government’s peace process with Muslim rebel groups. 43 percent of Filipinos, based on the survey, say they were satisfied with the issue of reconciling with the Muslim rebels, while 30 percent say they were dissatisfied, a rating of a +13.

In the aspect of elections and voting, “…the pre-election surveys worked and did not interfere with voters’ choices. Voters acted independently and responsibly; but their expectations of irregularities rose,” stated Dr. Mangahas. There is the regain of trust in National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and Board of Elections Inspectors (BEI) teacher, which was high, and trust in Commission of Election (COMELEC) recovered, according to the presentation of data.

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Excerpts:

Democracy and Politics

“Satisfaction with how democracy works is recovering (from its slump in 2006). A majority agrees with the pardon of former President Joseph Estrada and they favor leniency towards Senator Trillanes. They reject a new term for any past/present President, and are starting to assess the Presidentiables for 2010.”

National Governance:

“Dissatisfaction with the President continued. Satisfaction with the administration’s performance was high on certain matters, such as foreign relations and fighting terrorism, but low on others, such as inflation and corruption.”

Corruption:

“The 2007 Survey of Enterprises found managers keen on the idea of a Transparency Information Bureau – on using a TIB, on the value of having a good TIB rating for themselves, and on providing a TIB with the information that it would need.”

Safely and Security:

“Protection from crimes is not improving; break-ins are a growing problem. Most people expect the new Human Security Act to help to fight terrorism, even though they are not keen on specific provisions.”

Globalization:

“Support exists among Filipinos but is weak relative to other nationalities. Education is an important factor affecting such support.”

Economic Well-being:

“Record-high hunger, together with record-low Self-rated Poverty and Food Poverty show that economic growth did not help those in deepest suffering, but trickled down only to the marginal poor. The strong peso did not benefit families, whether they were families who had an Overseas Filipino Worker in the family or not.

Public Morale:

“Fairly good and not much affected by economic, political and social conditions – following Filipino traditions.”

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For more details on the survey please proceed to http://www.sws.org.ph/FINAL-2008%20Survey%20Review.pdf.