President Bongbong Marcos said that he was not surprised by the decline in his recent approval and trust ratings due to the continuing high prices of goods.
Marcos’ Pulse Asia approval rating dropped 15 percentage points from 80% in June to 65% last month.
Vice President Sara Duterte on the other hand recorded an 11-point decrease from her 84% approval rating in June to 73%.
“It’s not surprising. People are having a hard time… Bigas ito. It’s different from anything else, any other agricultural product,” Marcos said in an interview with reporters in Taguig City on October 4, 2023.
“That’s why we’re doing all of these things to try and maintain the prices at a level that is affordable to our people,” he added.
Marcos is optimistic that the prices of rice will soon stabilize.
He also announced the lifting of the price cap on rice following the recommendation from the trade and agriculture departments.
“Levels of approval for the President’s work decline in the Philippines as a whole (-15 percentage points) and in all areas and classes (-14 to -15 percentage points and -12 to -29 percentage points, respectively). As for the Vice- President, her approval ratings drop at the national level (-11 percentage points) as well as in Metro Manila (-12 percentage points), the rest of Luzon (-13 percentage points), Class ABC (-18 percentage points), and Class D (-11 percentage points),” Pulse Asia said.
The survey firm said that despite the decline in ratings, the two highest ranking officials in the country continue to enjoy majority approval from all classes.
