President Arroyo's rating hits record low in Philippines
President Arroyo's rating hits record low in Philippines
Stuart Grudgings, Reuters/Manila
Support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo slumped to a record low for any Philippine leader in May, suggesting she has been hurt by allegations linking her family to illegal gambling, an opinion poll showed.
Senators this week started an inquiry into an illegal numbers game, including allegations that Arroyo's husband, son, and brother-in-law had received large pay-offs.
Analysts have said Arroyo's presidency is not at immediate risk unless stronger evidence of the links emerges, but the survey released late on Thursday by polling firm Social Weather Stations showed the scandal may have already undermined her.
"There's a leadership vacuum right now. If she cannot turn it around quite rapidly, other groups will arrive to fill up the vacuum," political analyst Ramon Casiple told Reuters.
"It's not yet a crisis but she could be getting into that."
The president's popularity has been sinking since she won a new term in May elections last year as Filipinos feel the pain of high oil prices and worry about tax hikes pushed through by Arroyo to cut the country's dependency on debt.
Analysts say Arroyo, a political blue-blood whose father was president, also suffers from perceptions she is aloof and has failed to stem rampant corruption.
Arroyo had a net satisfaction rating of minus 33 in May, down from minus 12 in March, a record low for any president since democracy was restored in 1986, the poll of 1,200 people showed.
The survey, conducted from May 14 to 23, found that only 26 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with her presidency, with 59 percent dissatisfied.
In a television interview on Thursday, Arroyo blamed her unpopularity on high oil prices that have pushed up prices of food and fuel, making life tougher for millions of poor.
"It comes from the doubling of oil prices in the world market in the last year and a half," she said.
"Everyone blames me for the high oil prices. Everybody blames me for the unemployment, and I can understand why."
The allegations about her family's links to the illegal numbers game "jueteng" have threatened to drag her into a similar scandal to the one that sparked mass protests and unseated her predecessor Joseph Estrada in 2001.
The government has said the allegations are part of a plot by the opposition, which is still loyal to the detained Estrada, to undermine her presidency and spark another "people power" event.
Jueteng, estimated to be worth up to 30 billion pesos ($550 million) each year, is played daily by millions of poor Filipinos. Critics say jueteng is fixed and that kickbacks from operators corrupt the police, politicians and news media.