CABLE WOES: The reception quality of SkyCable has deteriorated in some places, because it is connecting too many subscribers to a common cable. Its lines are obviously overloaded or its equipment is not of top quality.

There ought to be a law or a rule limiting the load that the lines of SkyCable and similar businesses may carry.

When a TV/Internet cable enters a condominium building, there should be a limit to the number of splitters from which user-lines may branch out to serve subscribers simultaneously.

To make matters worse, technicians working on the sly help some users to illegally tap the line meant for legitimate subscribers.

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DOUBLE TAP: The Aquino administration is bleeding from the double-tap that hit it this week in the area of poll surveys and public perception.

The question being asked around is if President Noynoy Aquino and the experts gathered around the Chief can recover from the continuing dip in his approval rating. Those looking farther ahead wonder if he can last the remaining five years of his term.

A week after the Social Weather Stations released its survey results showing a 5-percentage point drop in the approval rating of the President, Pulse Asia followed up with its own Ulat ng Bayan findings indicating a 3-percentage point drop.

The SWS survey, commissioned by BusinessWorld, was conducted last June 3-6. The one by Pulse Asia, done from May 21 to June 4, was not commissioned.

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SLIDE SLOWS DOWN: President Aquino’s approval and trust grades have been going down, but the slide seems to have slowed a bit. He appears to still enjoy high ratings.

The latest Pulse Asia survey based on interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide showed 71 percent, or seven in 10 Filipinos, still trusting in and approving of the performance of the President.

That showed a trust rating dip of 9 percent compared to the October 2010 survey result of 80 percent and 4 percent compared to the 75-percent rating last March.

The President’s performance rating also dipped by 8 percent from 79 percent in October last year and 3 percent from last March’s 74 percent.

In an earlier SWS survey, the President’s net approval rating slipped from a record high of 64 percent in November last year to 46 percent this month. His net satisfaction rating also went down from 51 percent last March (69 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied).

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MAJORITY APPROVAL: From where we sit, it appears that after a year in office, President Aquino continues to command majority approval and trust (71 percent) of the adult population.

Translated into a head count of Filipinos (18 years and older) who are old enough to vote, his 71-percent rating is higher than his score of 42 percent of the votes in the 2010 elections that catapulted him to power.

The latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed that while seven out of 10 Filipinos expressed appreciation for and trust in the President, only 8 percent (less than one in 10) are critical of his performance and only 7 percent distrust him.

We can ignore the 21-22 percent who neither approved nor disapproved or did not give an opinion. They will count when (if) they make up their minds in the next survey

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PNEUMONIA: Malacañang has put up an unperturbed front, saying that given the Pulse Asia margin of error of +/-3 percentage points, the President’s performance rating of 71 percent “remains statistically unchanged” from the rating of 74 percent of last March.

While his record-high rating when he took office has been dipping, President Aquino appears to enjoy enough popular support to recover lost ground, depending on how he and his team perform in the next five years.

All surveys, however, show a continuing slide. In the March survey, there was a disturbing double-digit drop in his net approval rating.

A double-digit drop in one year may be like a mere hiccup, but occurring within a three-month period in the first year of a popular president, that looks like political pneumonia.

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RECOVERY DEBATABLE: It is true, as pointed out by Malacañang, that the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey do not vary significantly from those of last March.

The President’s majority approval across geographic areas ranges from 57 percent in Metro Manila to 79 percent in Mindanao. Across socio-economic groups, his approval ratings vary from 63 percent in the ABC class to 77 percent in the poorest E class.

In contrast, the President’s disapproval ratings were double-digit in the ABC class (14 percent) and in Metro Manila (15 percent), which are presumably better-informed and traditionally more critical of whoever sits in Malacañang.

Depending on many factors, including his handling of criticisms against some of his classmates and buddies brought into the Palace corridor of power, the President may still recover lost ground.

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TORRES ISSUE: A presidential buddy who has drawn sustained enemy fire is DoTC Asst. Secretary Virginia Torres, who has just returned as chief of the Land Transportation Office despite recommendations for charges to be filed against her for alleged misconduct.

The recommendations came from no less than the Department of Justice that investigated the complaints against her. Torres even ignored Transportation and Communication Secretary Jose de Jesus when he told her to perform certain tasks.

One such directive was for her to pay the LTO’s P1.2 billion obligation to Stradcom Corp. for services rendered. Stopping payment, Torres reasoned out that Stradcom stockholders were locked in a fight for control.

It is not clear why Torres, who is not the Securities and Exchange Commission or a court of law, does not simply pay Stradcom (the corporation) and leave the internal squabble to the stockholders.