Marcos not surprised by approval rating drop
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday that the drop in his approval rating for the third quarter of the year was not at all surprising, considering the challenges the country is grappling with.
«People are having a hard time. This is about rice. It's a different story when it comes to rice. It's different from anything else, from any other agricultural product. I completely understand it, and that's why we're working very, very hard to make sure that this comes up again — not because of the survey, that's not important to me. What's important to me is that we make sure that people have enough to eat and that it is affordable for them,» Marcos told reporters in Taguig City.
The approval rating of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte took a stiff dive based on the results of a September Pulse Asia survey.
From 80 percent in June, the President's approval rating dropped to 65 percent, while Duterte's fell from 84 percent to 73 percent in the same period.
The polling firm attributed the sizable decline to issues surrounding the deliberation of next year's national budget, including the controversial confidential funds earmarked for the Office of the President and Office of the Vice President.
Other contributing factors were the country's long-standing territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea and the skyrocketing prices of commodities, particularly rice.
Marcos assured Filipinos that his administration is committed to giving them better lives.
«That's why we're doing all of the things to try and maintain the prices at the level that is affordable to the people. That is basically what has to be done. I think we're slowly getting there because we have a good supply now. As for the distribution, we are taking measures with the pass-through to lower the costs of rice delivery, especially to faraway places. NCR (National Capital Region) is included there. We have a program for the NCR. That's perfectly natural. It's not a surprise,» the President said.
