SURVEYS CAN'T DISPUTE ADMINISTRATION'S SHORTCOMINGS--SEN. MARCOS

No survey can hide the shortcomings of the Aquino administration, Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. said today.

Malacañang disputed the "poor" rating Marcos gave the administration, citing separate results of recent Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys showing an increase in the performance and trust ratings of President Aquino.

However, Marcos noted that opinion polls are just a reflection of people's opinions, and not facts.

"These are the facts: MRT service breaks down practically every day; monstrous traffic jams are now the norm, not the exception; brownouts continue to plague a large part of Mindanao," Marcos said.

In rating the administration's performance, Marcos also lamented the continuing congestion in the country's airports and seaports that affects the business sector and the economy.

"There can be no dispute too on the fact that the country's economic growth slowed to 5.2 percent in the first quarter, the lowest since 2012, as a results of the government's underspending," Marcos likewise noted.

Data from the Department of Budget and Management shows the government used up only P68.5 billion on infrastructure and other capital outlays during the first three months of 2015, down 11 percent from P77 billion in the first quarter of last year.

The first-quarter infrastructure expenditures were 27.3-percent lower than the P94.3 billion that the government had programmed to spend between from January to March.

Had the infrastructure projects been implemented, they would have spurred the growth of the economy and generated more job opportunities for the poor, Marcos said.

Since Malacañang has cited the SWS and Pulse Asia survey results to defend its performance, Marcos said the Palace should also accept the result of the IBON survey last May, where seven out of 10 Filipinos said their family situation was poor.

The respondents were also asked what they thought of social services in the past year; more people, or 56.4%, said that health services were not enough. In the previous round, only 45.7% of the respondents said that health services were not enough.

While admitting the IBON survey is also based on people's perception, Marcos said it is supported by official poverty figures for the first semester of 2014, which the Philippine Statistics Authority released last March 6.

The PSA report said that poverty incidence among Filipinos in the first semester of 2014 was estimated at 25.8 percent based on the 2014 APIS (Annual Poverty Indicators Survey) conducted in July 2014. During the same period in 2013, poverty incidence among Filipinos was recorded at 24.6 percent.