Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains unfazed by his declining public satisfaction rating and will continue working regardless of survey results, Malacañang said Friday, Oct. 9.
Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro made the statement after the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed his net satisfaction score falling to a “poor” -11 in September from a “neutral” -7 in June.
“Kahit kailan, kahit ano pang survey firm, tumaas, bumaba, hindi naaapektuhan ang Pangulo, tuluy-tuloy ang pagtatrabaho. Hindi nagbabakasyon, nagtatrabaho,” Castro said during a press briefing in Singapore.
[Translation: Regardless of the survey firm, whether the ratings rise or fall, the president remains unaffected and continues working. He does not take vacations. He works.]
Castro also questioned the timing of the survey release.
“So, very timely lang kasi ang paglabas nito dahil maraming isyu na kinasasangkutan ngayon ang bise presidente,” she said.
[Translation: The timing of its release is notable because the vice president is currently involved in several controversies.]
Castro did not elaborate on the matter.
“Again, ang numero ng survey firms hindi po iyan makakaapekto sa pagtatrabaho ng pangulo,” she added.
[Again, the numbers from survey firms will not affect the president’s work.]
The satisfaction scores declined in Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Metro Manila but improved in Mindanao.
The SWS survey, conducted from Sept. 21 to 27 and released Thursday, Oct. 8, found that 35 percent of respondents were satisfied with the president’s performance, 46 percent dissatisfied and 20 percent undecided.
The resulting net satisfaction rating of -11 was four points lower than the -7 recorded in June, although it remained above his personal record low of -15 in March 2026.
The survey period coincided with the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte, including the Senate Impeachment Court Sept. 23 decision to revise its interpretation of the two-thirds vote requirement for conviction.
The survey did not establish whether the impeachment proceedings or other political developments influenced respondents’ satisfaction with the president.
The nationwide survey involved face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults and had a sampling error margin of ±3 percentage points.
