Echoes From
BY JOHNNY DAYANG

Rural folk and PNoy’s programs

A few days before the slated July 25 State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III, both the Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia came out with their second quarter surveys on the popularity and approval ratings of President Aquino.

Both SWS and Pulse Asia surveys from June 3 to 6 showed that Aquino’s popularity ratings went down by some percentage points.

The SWS June survey showed that PNoy’s popularity rating dipped from 74% in November 2010 to 64% in June of this year.

The Pulse Asia May to June survey also showed that Aquino’s performance rating dipped from 80% in October 2010 to 75% in March of this year.

But more than the overall downward direction, the tallies of people perception in the countryside bears watching.

Earlier surveys conducted by Pulse Asia said that President Aquino’s trust ratings in the Visayas declined by double digits (-13 and -14%, respectively) between March and May 2011). The President’s approval rating in Visayas also went down by 15 percent.

The SWS Rural net satisfaction with the President is a good +47 (65% satisfied, 18% dissatisfied), but lower than the very good +55 (71% satisfied, 16% dissatisfied) before.

One asks: Whys is PNoy’s satisfaction rating falling in the provinces?

Answer: Many of the President’s plans, programs, and policies do not reach the eyes and ears of rural folk.

Countryside dwellers need to know government programs and public policies in order to take part in its effective implementation by way of pro-active participation and immediate feedback.

To communicate effectively, one must be familiar with the tiers of human relations that govern each barrio, municipality, province and region.

And insofar as the task of information dissemination is concerned, it is evident that government cannot do this alone.

And who best to be the vanguards of the government programs and policies in the countryside?
Well, who else but the army of provincial journalists and broadcasters that are already functioning in all 42,000 barangays that make up this nation.

Yes, the provincial press can be a partner of PNoy in realizing this vision of a genuinely developing Philippines. It is something that President Aquino and his think tank could do well to think about.