MANILA – Malacañang has pinned the blame on the surge of “fake news” for the decline in the approval and trust ratings of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
According to Presidential Communications Office’s Undersecretary Claire Castro, the disinformation and misinformation against Marcos may have influenced the survey respondents.
Castro also casted doubt on the accuracy of the latest Pulse Asia survey, pointing out the survey’s sample size of 2,400 respondents, which she said cannot accurately reflect the sentiment of more than 100 million Filipinos.
“Nalaman po natin ang respondents dito ay 2,400. So, sa 2,400, hindi naman po ito nagre-reflect ng sentimyento ng kabuoan,” Castro said. “Ito ay sumasalamin din po sa impluwensya ng mga fake news na nagkakalat.”
“So, kung ang mga tao man na ito ay nagbigay ng kanilang mga opinyon, marahil ay bunga ito ng mga fake news,” added Castro, who cited recent findings that Philippines has a significantly higher rate of coordinated online disinformation.
Castro further said that the Chief Executive is not affected by the survey as the administration will continue to govern based on law and policy, not on potentially skewed public perception.
“Kung anuman po ang nagiging desisyon ng Pangulo at ng administrasyon at ito ay nagre-reflect sa isang survey, nanaisin pa rin po at ipapatupad pa rin ng Pangulo kung ano ang nasa batas at kung ano ang tama,” she said.
However, Castro admitted that the latest survey results can influence voter behavior toward the administration slate in the May 12 senatorial elections and she underscored the importance of President Marcos’ directive to intensify efforts to combat fake news.
The survey conducted from March 23 to March 29, showed that the President’s public approval ratings fell by 17 percentage points, from 42 percent in February to 25 percent in March while his disapproval ratings went up by 21 points, from 32 percent to 53 percent.
By contrast, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s approval ratings improved from 52 percent in February to 59 percent in March, while her trust ratings also went up from 53 percent to 61 percent./PN
