MANILA, Philippines — The high satisfaction rating of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is an indicator that he is on the right track of governance, said his cousin, House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Romualdez in a statement Friday said that Marcos started on the right foot as he was able to convince some of the country’s greatest minds to join his administration.
The House official said this after polling firm Pulse Asia showed in its survey that the Marcos administration got majority approval ratings on 11 of the 13 issues from which its performance was graded last September 2022.
“The good showing means that President Bongbong Marcos is on the right track of governance,” Romualdez said. “(The President) started on the right foot by convincing the best and the brightest and most capable among Filipinos to serve the people by joining his economic team and his Cabinet.”
READ: Marcos admin gets high approval ratings in Pulse Asia survey
According to Pulse Asia, Marcos’ administration got the following remarks on key issues:
- calamity response (78%)
- controlling the spread of COVID-19 (78%)
- promoting peace in the country (69%)
- protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (68%)
- fighting criminality (67%)
- law enforcement (62%)
- creating more jobs (59%)
- increasing workers’ pay (59%)
- fighting graft and corruption in government (58%)
- environment protection (57%)
- defense of the country’s territorial integrity (52%)
However, the government scored badly in terms of poverty reduction (39%) and control of inflation (31%).
Romualdez asked the public for patience as he claimed that the problems plaguing the country today are due to external factors — like the weakening peso against the US dollar, the increasing price of crude oil due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ: Marcos’ first Sona: ‘The state of the nation is sound’
He assured the public, though, that the administration is trying its best to address these problems.
“Singly, each of these events already puts pressure on inflation. Their confluence makes matters worse for all consumers throughout the world,” he said.
“Let us be patient. With the cooperation of everyone, we will get there. President Bongbong has said he would not let even a single Filipino (be) added to the ranks of the poor,” he added.
READ: Marcos says he achieved a ‘functional’ gov’t in first 100 days
While there have been people happy with Marcos and his administration’s performance, there have been critics who have pointed out that the problems affecting the country before have worsened.
Earlier, Minority lawmaker and Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said that the administration cannot deny that figures show that economic problems have worsened, as headline inflation rates rose from 6.1 percent in June to 6.9 percent in September while unemployment rates also spiked from 5.2 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August.
READ: Lagman says 1st 100 days not enough to gauge Marcos administration