The net satisfaction ratings of ranking officials next to President Arroyo dropped in the third quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, according to results released on Wednesday which noted that the present ratings are, in general, worse than their immediate predecessors.

The non-commissioned nationwide survey conducted from September 18 to 21 with 1,800 respondents found that 58 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance, while 26 percent said otherwise, bringing the Vice President’s net rating (percentage of satisfied minus percentage of dissatisfied) to a “good” +32.

SWS said the present rating of De Castro is lower than the +44 recorded in June and +36 last February.

Despite a drop in the ratings, the Vice President has sustained a “good” rating since June 2006.

SWS said the net satisfaction ratings of other top officials, which include Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, House Speaker Prospero Nograles, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno “were generally worse than those of their immediate predecessors.”

For Enrile, 44 percent said they are satisfied, while 30 percent are dissatisfied with his performance for a net rating of a “moderate” +14.

The Senate President’s latest rating is nine points lower than his +23 last June, but SWS said it can still be considered better than the “neutral” +8 net rating Enrile garnered in February.

Meanwhile, only 21 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with Nograles’ performance, while 41 percent said otherwise. His net rating has further dropped to a “poor” –20 from –15 in June.

SWS noted that while Nograles consistently kept a “poor” net rating, the latest figure is better than his –22 documented in June. The pollster noted that Nograles consistently acquired “poor” net satisfaction ratings since March 2008.

Meanwhile, about 35 percent said they are satisfied with Puno’s performance while 33 percent are dissatisfied, bringing his net rating to “neutral” +2. The Chief Justice’s rating slightly changed from +4 last June and +3 in February.

The survey also looked into the satisfaction of Filipinos on the performance of the country’s key government institutions.

The Senate got a “good” +30 rating, the House of Representatives had a “moderate” +10 rating, while the Supreme Court maintained a "moderate" net rating of +14.

The SWS terminologies are as follows: +50 and above “very good;” +30 to +49, “good;” +10 to +29, “moderate,” +9 to -9, “neutral;” -10 to -29, “poor;” -30 to -49, “bad;” and -50 or lower, “very bad.”

The third quarter SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila and Mindanao, and 600 each in balance of Luzon and the Visayas with sampling error margins of ±2.3 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for balance Luzon and the Visayas.