Most Pinoys face 2015 with hope

By Cong B. Corrales

WHILE various political and economic issues have dogged the country this year, a big majority of Filipinos still maintain a hopeful outlook for next year, a recent survey by a creditable pollster showed.

The Pulse Asia Research’s Ulat ng Bayan Survey on the Holiday season and the New Year revealed that almost nine in 10 Filipinos (88%) say they face the coming year with hope.

The survey comes on the heels of various political and economic issues which have hogged the headlines this year.

Political issues like the Senate’s continued investigation into allegations of corruption against Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay, to the approval by the House Committee on Energy of Joint Resolution No. 21 which seeks to grant President Aquino emergency powers to allow him to more efficiently and effectively address the looming energy crisis in 2015, have not sopped the Filipino’s stubbornly hopeful spirit.

This sentiment is shared predominantly across the country and socioeconomic classes.

Only one in 100 (1%) Filipinos say they see a dire year ahead while 11% could not weigh in on the matter.

GRAPHICS BY Cong B. Corrales

“Essentially the same figures are recorded across geographic areas (1% and 8% to 15%, respectively) and socio-economic groupings (virtually nil to 1% and 9% to 15%, respectively),” the press advisory reads.

This, as the percentage of Filipinos who expect a poorer Christmas for their families this year declined. At the national level, the figure declined to less than 10 percentage points. The Class D also shows a decline of 9 percentage points. The Visayas also showed albeit a bigger decline in percentage points at -21.

However, five in 10 (52%) Filipinos said they expect their celebration of the Christmas season to be “no different from last year.”

This figure is virtually the same as the December 2013 figure of 54%, the Pulse Asia Research press advisory adds. The survey further shows that this sentiment is shared across the major islands, as well as across economic classes.

“This is the majority sentiment in Metro Manila (51%), Mindanao (51%), and the rest of Luzon (55%) as well as in Classes D and E (53% and 51%, respectively). Nearly the same percentages of Visayans and those in Classes ABC either share this view (46% and 44%, respectively) or expect a more prosperous celebration this year compared to 2013 (41% and 47%, respectively),” the advisory reads.

Yet, 34% of Filipinos say this year’s Christmas season will be more prosperous for their families at the national level. This is in contrast to the 14% of Filipinos who said they expect a poorer Christmas for their families this year.

GRAPHICS BY Cong B. Corrales

The survey also showed that there was an increase of +12 percentage points in the percentage of Filipinos who expect a more prosperous Christmas this year when compared to the figures in December, last year.

This trend also manifested in Metro Manila (+21 percentage points), the Visayas (+16 percentage points), and the economic classes of ABC and D at +21 percentage points and +13 percentage points, respectively.

Pulse Asia Research conducted the survey on November 14 to 20, this year, with face-to-face interview as their methodology for the survey. The survey is based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level.

“Pulse Asia Research undertakes Ulat ng Bayan surveys on its own without any party singularly commissioning the research effort,” the press advisory reads.