Marcos December approval, trust ratings go up

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s approval and trust ratings improved in December amid his forceful stance against what many Filipinos see as Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

The President’s approval rating went up by 3 points to 68% from a quarter earlier, while his trust score added 2 points to 73%, Pulse Asia Research, Inc. said in a statement on Monday, citing the results of its Dec. 3-7 poll.

Mr. Marcos had majority approval scores in every area (62% to74%) and class (63% to 69%), the research firm said.

His approval rating rose by 15 points among Filipinos in Class E, while his disapproval rating increased by 12 points in the Visayas region, Pulse Asia said.

Vice-President Sara Duterte-Caprio’s approval rating improved by a point to 74%, while her trust score rose by 3 points to 78%. Her approval rating dropped by 12 points in the Visayas region.

“Appreciation is the predominant sentiment regarding the quarterly performance of the President and Vice-President (68% and 74%, respectively),” Pulse Asia said.

Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri’s approval rating went down by a point to 49%, while Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez’s score slipped by 2 points to 39%.

“The performance ratings of these government officials are essentially constant during the period September 2023 to December 2023,” Pulse Asia said. “This observation holds true at the national level as well as in all areas and classes.”

Filipinos approved of the Marcos government’s programs for overseas Filipino workers (78%), helping calamity-stricken areas (76%), protecting the environment (62%) and promoting peace and defending territorial integrity (61%).

“The government went through a series of populist moves to stave off further drops in its ratings, including ill-fated rice price caps and speeding up of the Maharlika Investment Fund,” Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Mr. Marcos had imposed a price ceiling on rice at P41 a kilo for regular milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice on Sept. 5 to temper inflation. He lifted the price cap a month later.

The President in November appointed his adviser on investments and economic affairs Rafael D. Consing, Jr. to head the Maharlika Investment Corp., which will oversee the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund.

“To some extent, the moves seem to have succeeded in the lower income and urban classes, but in spite of all its efforts, it seems to have managed only a few insignificant points as disapproval in certain areas remained,” Mr. Lanzona said.

Filipinos who were dissatisfied with how the government was handling inflation jumped to 73% from 56% in September. Only 9% of Filipinos said they approved of state efforts against rising prices. 

Disapproval of the government’s efforts to reduce poverty also went up by 8 points to 39%, while Filipinos who frowned at the state’s anti-corruption efforts rose by 10 points to 33%.

Seven of 10 Filipinos said controlling prices was the most urgent issue that the government must address. Increasing worker pay came in second at 40%, followed by creating more jobs at 28% and reducing poverty at 25%.

Philippine inflation slowed to 3.9% in December from 4.1% in November, according to the local statistics agency, the slowest in 22 months.

In a statement on Friday, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the country’s inflation task force would seek to boost farm output to ease inflationary pressures especially on the poor.

“It makes sense that Mr. Marcos retained his ratings if only because there’s not much change in his policies,” Hansley A. Juliano, a political science professor at the Ateneo, said in a Messenger chat.

“Any disapproval of inflation policies can be outweighed by general support/not rocking the boat on other aspects, especially because there is not much disagreement even from the opposition on what to do.”

Pulse Asia interviewed 1,200 Filipino adults on Dec. 3 to 7 for the poll, which had a ± 2.8% error margin.