President Marcos denied that his recent move to revamp his Cabinet was just a political spin.
Cabinet revamp not for optics—Marcos
Published May 28, 2025 10:46 am
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. speaks during a press conference at the Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur following the 46th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, May 27, 2025. (Mark Balmores/ Canon R6 Mark II)
In an interview with reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Marcos stressed that his decision to ask all his Cabinet members to resign is his way of fixing a problem and looking into it deeply.
He said a rigorous performance review is what they are doing now.
"But in any case, we are looking at the problem deeply. You know, siguro (perhaps) by now, you know, I don't do things pang optics (for optics)," Marcos said.
"If there is a problem, I like to fix it. So, that's what we are doing. So, expect us to be doing a rigorous performance review, not only at the Cabinet level, but even deeper," he added.
While he refused to divulge information about who to retain and remove among the Cabinet members, aside from the ones he already retained and moved, the President disclosed that "some have to be moved around, some have chosen to leave or no longer think they can contribute."
"I’ll share with you one thing. That as we were doing the performance review, and when we see shortfalls in performance, I don't leave it at that," he said.
"I look and ask why is that the case? And that is why we ask all the heads of agencies to also submit their courtesy resignations because we have to look at deeper, not just look at the secretary," he added.
Why will I resign?
Asked for his response to his detractors urging him to resign, Marcos said nothing good will come up if he steps down.
He stressed that he is not the kind to run away from problems.
"Ba’t ko gagawin yun? At wala sa ugali ko yung tinatakbuhan ang problema (Why will I do that? And it is not my nature to run away from problems). So, what good will that do?" the President said.
Meanwhile, Marcos also dismissed the Pulse Asia survey showing that his trust rating, although it stood at 32 percent, was lower than that of Vice President Sara Duterte who was at 50 percent.
He said one survey is not enough to prove an official's trustworthiness.
"Madaming ibang survey (There are many survey). Let’s not based it on one," he said.
"Well, again, let's look at other surveys before we… Know your source. That's a – that’s always an… Imperfect information makes you make imperfect decisions. The more perfect your information, the more perfect your decision will be," he added.
"That is one source of information, and you have to understand where it's actually coming from," he stressed.