Q: Sir, ‘yung latest SWS survey sabi 59 percent ng Filipino — adult Filipinos satisfied sa Marcos administration.
PRESIDENT FERDINAND R. MARCOS JR.: Of course, it’s always good to see that what we are doing is reaching most – the majority of people at nararamdaman naman nila ‘yung mga aming ginagawa.
So, of course, it’s very encouraging. Siyempre lalakas ang loob namin para patibayin pa, pagandahin pa namin ang trabaho namin.
Mabuti ito na may mga graduate na tayo na papasok ulit sa pamahalaan na bagong trained, ‘yan ang mga kailangan talaga natin. That I’m sure inspires them as well as all of us public servants to continue doing the best that we can for our people.
Q: Sir, there were five Chinese spies arrested in Palawan. What are your thoughts on this? What information have you gathered so far? Are these state-sponsored by China?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, we – no, we have no contact with the – no official contact with China.
We are still – the investigative services are still developing more information to see exactly what these five have been – what operations they have been doing while they have been here in the Philippines.
Dahil ‘yung iba matagal nang nandito nakapangasawa na ng mga Pilipina. At sleeper talaga, sleeper, tinatawag na sleepers so… At kailangan ay kung sakali – baka naman ay pagka nakausap natin sila masabi sa atin baka mayroon pa bang mga iba na maaari nating puntahan at pag-explainin (explain) kung ano ‘yung kanilang ginagawa.
Q: Sir, are you not bothered, sir, na ‘yung mga spy camera nila nakatutok sa mga vital installations sa mga EDCA sites?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: That’s why we arrested them because of course we are very disturbed by anyone conducting such espionage operations against our military and our – and just the services that we are trying to provide the people. Yeah.
Q: Mr. President, in a senatorial debate Atty. Vic Rodriguez again called on you to undergo a hair follicle test citing the Constitutional principle that public office is a public trust. What can you say to this, Mr. President?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: No, no. Why should I do that? What is a public trust, public office, public — has nothing to do with a follicle test. Please. Wala namang koneksyon ‘yung sinasabi niya.
He’s always had that weakness every time he — when he was still working for me. If you believe in what he was saying, why did he work for me?
Q: Mr. President, regarding po to the PFP Leaders’ Summit.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Yes, I’m going there now.
Q: Yes, are you going to ano po meet ‘yung kampanya ng mga admin na candidates natin and ano po ‘yung advantage nila para sa pagkapanalo po?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, iba-iba siyempre lalo na ‘yung – all the senatorials are the same, all of the locals pareho naman – iba-iba kasi ang kanilang mga advocacy.
What we are doing is really more in terms of organization, in terms of… Well, the messaging I think is pretty clear to all our candidates already because we have been talking about it for the last two and a half years and even during the campaign. Kaya’t hindi na siguro kailangan ipaliwanag ‘yun.
Well, we will see kung ano ang problema sa bawat lugar, kung ano ‘yung mga pangangailangan na may kakulangan ng iba’t ibang kandidato. It’s really, really a gearing up already for the campaign.
Q: Sa tingin niyo po ‘yung mataas ninyong SWS survey makakahatak po doon sa ating mga kandidato for 2025 mid-term elections?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Siguro — I’m sure it has an effect. Makakatulong ‘yun.
Q: Sir, ano pong position niyo doon sa P200 na dagdag sa arawang sahod ng mga manggagawa na ipinasa na ng House Committee? Nananawagan po ang ilang kongresista na i-certify daw po ninyo as urgent bill. Ano po ang inyong desisyon?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Yes. Well, the thing is we have a tripartite board that actually determines the increase in the wage. So, we have to still — we still have to study it further to see how that will work together. Because this is – the tripartite body was creation of Congress din eh. Sila ang nagbuo niyan and nagsulat sila ng batas at nagbuo ng ganyang klaseng entity. Iyan ang trabaho nila para alamin kung ano ‘yung dapat maging minimum wage.
So, now with this, I don’t know how that’s going to work together. But we will see. We will try to resolve that because as you know it’s very clear that tumataas ang bilihin, nandiyan pa rin ang inflation. Hindi pa natin nasusugpo nang mabuti – nang kumpleto.
Kaya’t it’s certainly something that we have to think about to assist ‘yung mga pangkaraniwan na tao.
Now, there are other… It’s not only one side to this question, there are many sides to this question. The employers are worried na sinasabi nila lalong-lalo na ‘yung mga maliliit na employer, halimbawa mga sari-sari store, mga parlor, beauty parlor, ‘yung mga ganoon, ‘yung maliliit lamang. ‘Pag tinaas ‘yung minimum wage, mababawasan ang kanilang empleyado kasi ganoon pa rin ‘yung pera nila. Hindi naman madadagdagan ‘yung pera na pambayad nila ng suweldo.
So, papaano ‘yun? How will that affect the economy? How will that affect the MSMEs?
It’s really the small… Iyong sa corporate walang problema ‘yan, iyong malalaking korporasyon, kaya nila ‘yan. Kahit anong increase ang ilagay niyo kaya nila ‘yan. Pero ‘yung maliliit, iyon ang inaalala ng mga iba.
And if there will – pinag-aaralan din namin kung ito ay magkakaroon ng increase sa consumer pricing. Ibig sabihin inflationary, baka maging inflationary.
Pero palagay ko naman there is a way to increase that but we have to resolve the legal issues, we have to resolve the economic issues. So, it still deserves a great deal of study.
Q: Thank you, sir.
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