Malacañang on Wednesday stated that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains unconcerned by his record-low net satisfaction rating in the latest Social Weather Stations survey, viewing it instead as a challenge to work harder.
The SWS poll, conducted in March, revealed that Marcos obtained a “poor” net satisfaction rating of minus 15 percent. Marking a 12-point drop below the neutral threshold, the score stands as the lowest performance rating of his presidency.
Addressing reporters during the President’s state visit to Japan, Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro emphasized that the administration views the data as constructive feedback.
“Alam natin na sinasagad ng Pangulo ang pagtatrabaho pero makakatulong ito para mas pagbutihan pa ng Pangulo ang pagtatrabaho at pagbibigay ng tulong sa ating mga mamamayan,” Castro said. (We know that the President is working to the absolute limit, but this will help the President to work even harder and improve the delivery of assistance to our citizens.)
Castro defended the administration’s standing by noting that conflicting results have emerged from alternative polling institutions.
She pointed to a different nationwide survey where Marcos allegedly outperformed the country’s top three other high-ranking officials.
The Palace official further suggested that the negative feedback could be attributed to the specific demographic sampled by SWS, implying they might represent sectors awaiting government aid.
“Sa ating pagkakatingin, depende nga po ‘yan sa mga respondent na nakakausap. So naniniwala po tayo na nararamdaman ang iba mga kababayan natin ang ginagawa ng gobyerno, nagkakataon lamang po siguro ang nakakausap ay mga taong hindi pa nahatiran or hindi pa naramdaman ang tulong ng gobyerno,” she explained. (In our view, it really depends on the respondents being interviewed. So we believe that our other countrymen feel what the government is doing, and it just so happens that those interviewed might be people who have not yet been reached by or have not yet felt the government’s help.)
Despite the dip in public satisfaction, Malacañang reiterated that the chief executive’s priority remains focused on national governance rather than monitoring popularity polls.