Marcos happy with ratings, pledges to work harder

IMPROVED TIES President Marcos and Czech President Petr Pavel report about their talks at Prague Castle on March 14. —AFP

PRAGUE—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is glad his ratings improved in the last quarter of 2023 but maintained he does not run the government according to survey results.

In an interview with reporters here, Mr. Marcos said he will work even harder to improve the lives of Filipinos even as his ratings went up in recent months.

“It’s always good news,” the President said on Friday afternoon.

He said he was happy that some people are “seeing the wisdom of some of the measures that we’ve undertaken, the policy changes that we’ve made, the legislations we’ve requested from Congress.”

He conceded some of the structural changes they made “take time to trickle down and for the people to feel the actual effects of what we are doing.”

Mr. Marcos added he hoped his higher trust and approval ratings reflected these sentiments of the people.

“I’m hoping that’s what it means. Then we will keep going and work even harder than before,” he said.

The Chief Executive made the remarks when asked to comment on his “good” satisfaction ratings of +47 in December 2023, an improvement from the +44 he got in September 2023.

Based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, Mr. Marcos’ satisfaction ratings bounced back, but dropped significantly in Mindanao.

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“Compared to September 2023, net satisfaction with [Mr. Marcos] rose by 8 points from +36 in Metro Manila, by 4 points from +48 in Balance Luzon, and by 18 points from +33 in the Visayas. However, it fell by 12 points from +50 in Mindanao,” the SWS reported.

According to the SWS Survey, net satisfaction rose in rural areas but fell in urban areas. It also rose among men but remained steady among women.

“Compared to September 2023, gross satisfaction with [Mr. Marcos] stayed at 65 percent, gross undecided rose from 14 percent, and gross dissatisfaction fell slightly from 21 percent. The resulting net satisfaction rating is +47 (percent satisfied minus percent dissatisfied), classified by SWS as good (+30 to +49). This is 3 points up from the good +44 in September 2023,” said the SWS in its report.