Public interest drives Marcos’ decisions, not high ratings – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The public’s interest is at the forefront of every decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and not the pursuit of high survey ratings, according to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.

Bersamin made the statement on Monday after the latest Pulse Asia survey showed a slight dip in Marcos’ approval rating.

“True leadership always carries with it the burden to pursue courses of action which are right but may not be popular,” Bersamin said in a statement.

“Public interest is the sole driver behind every executive decision, not the pursuit of high ratings in the next opinion polls,” he continued. “High popularity ratings are the bonus and not the bedrock of effective public service.”

Pulse Asia’s nationwide survey, conducted from November 26 to December 3, showed that Marcos’ approval rating dropped to 48 percent from 50 percent in September.

This comes as more Filipinos expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government has been handling high consumer prices, poverty, unemployment, and corruption.

“We respect the statement that surveys are dipstick readings of the well of the public opinion,” Bersamin said.

“But we believe that the governance scorecard should not be confined to pollings alone,” he continued. “To consider surveys as the sole indicator is to take our focus away from the more important metrics, like employment, that reliably measure our progress as a nation.”