The trust and performance ratings of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as issued by Pulse Asia of 10 to14 September public opinion survey did not gravitate around the views foregrounded by the resource persons from either La Salle or the University of the Philippines over CNN sequel, dubbed, "The Big Dip."

Out of the 16 "most urgent national concerns" the poll body summated, none remotely refer to the rice issue nor the agriculture sector as the culprits.

However subject-matter-experts they may be, it turned out that they're just the run-of-the-mill views of individuals invited to a TV talk show at a moment's notice. Sadly, the ideas or beliefs they have propounded necessitate even greater scrutiny by students or scholars of public policy or economics.

First, the point raised by an in-person interviewee from La Salle who equated the drop of the president's performance rating to 65 percent as "pretty much the same set who voted for him a year ago" is a classic case of comparing apples with oranges. To pair two rather "diametrically opposed" variables as similar not only rests on clear ambiguity but is skewed.

Second, the point raised via Zoom by a UP dean that the ratings of past administrations were not as "significant" as that of FM Jr.'s, which suffered a double-digit drop, it must be mentioned that the respective ratings of Presidents Rodrigo Duterte, Benigno Aquino III, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — all have plummeted worse than FM Jr.

For instance, PNoy's approval rating has dropped from a high of 79 percent at the beginning of his term to 54 percent as of September 2015, notwithstanding intervening events like the Mamasapano bloodbath, the Luneta hostage-taking, etc. For another, PGMA's 18-21 September 2009 survey found 23 percent satisfied but 62 percent dissatisfied with her performance — close to scraping bottom.

Even DU30 has not been spared the whip, as his net satisfaction rating (satisfied minus unsatisfied) dropped by double digits for the third time from November 2020 to May 2021. As well-articulated in the course of the TV interview — "numbers don't lie" — but in this instant case, the experts raised glaringly dubious points reminiscent of the sophists in Plato's Dialogues.

Another observation is the common tendency of presidents to downplay, dismiss, and debunk survey findings and consequently dither over what to do with societal issues of grave concern. In fairness, both experts from La Salle and UP shared one common ground: The condescending optimism that a reverse trend is yet a possibility.