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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
More than half of Filipinos consider their
political leaders at present as dishonest, a global survey
commissioned by the World Economic Forum and released Thursday said.
The “Voice of the People” survey conducted
by Gallup International for the Forum said 65 percent of the
Filipino respondents said their current political leaders are
dishonest, while 49 percent of them believed that politicians behave
unethically.
Seventy percent of the respondents said the
politicians respond to pressure from people more powerful than them,
and 61 percent said the politicians are too sensitive to public
opinion.
“It is hardly surprising, therefore, that when
asked which groups of people they trust, [the respondents said]
politicians are the least likely group [that they trust], with only
8 percent globally saying they trust them,” the survey said.
Gallup International questioned 61,600
respondents in 60 countries, with 1,000 of them in the Philippines.
The interviews, which were carried out between October and December
2007, represent the views of almost 1.5 billion global citizens. The
survey comes ahead of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008
in Davos, Switzerland, from January 23 to 27.
The survey said 58 percent of the Filipino
respondents said they trust religious leaders more than politicians
(11 percent) and military or police (14 percent).
The respondents also said they trust
journalists, 43 percent; teachers, 40 percent; and lawyers, 22
percent.
Twenty-two percent of the Filipino respondents
said, too, that the most important priority for leaders is to
eliminate extreme poverty. The next priorities are encouraging
economic growth, 20 percent; restoring trust and honesty in
government and business, 16 percent; and protecting the environment,
14 percent.
The survey said 50 percent of the Filipino
respondents want to give more power to religious leaders, followed
by journalists, 34 percent; teachers, 32 percent; lawyers, 28
percent; politicians, 21 percent; military or police, 18 percent;
and business leaders, 17 percent.
Least favored were film stars, 4 percent;
musicians, 6 percent; and sports stars, 7 percent.
On economic prosperity, 38 percent of the
Filipino respondents said they expect the same as now, compared to
the 10 percent saying there will be a lot more economic prosperity
than now.
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