Controlling inflation and increasing the pay of workers are the two most urgent concerns of Filipinos, according to the latest survey of Pulse Asia released on Friday.
The poll, taken from September 24 to 30, showed that Filipinos are more worried about the rising prices of goods and their dwindling purchasing power. Fifty percent of those polled said their top concern was inflation while 42 percent said increasing workers’ pay.
The least concerns of the respondents were Charter change at 2 percent, territorial integrity, 4 percent, terrorism, 5 percent, welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers, 6 percent.
The respondents said the other urgent national concerns that the Duterte administration must immediately act upon are criminality (36 percent), job creation (32 percent), graft and corruption (28 percent) and poverty (28 percent).
Pulse Asia said 21 percent of Filipinos mentioned peace as the most urgent national concern, followed by rule of law (16 percent), environmental degradation (14 percent) and rapid population growth (8 percent).
“The Duterte administration receives majority approval ratings for its handling of nearly all of the 12 issues on which it is performance-rated in September 2017,” Pulse Asia said.
“Filipinos’ assessment of the administration’s performance is essentially unchanged during the period June to September 2017,” it added.
By area, 45 percent of respondents in Metro Manila said the most urgent national concern is workers’ pay, while 38 percent mentioned inflation.
Most of those in the Visayas (51 percent), Mindanao (51 percent), and the rest of Luzon (52 percent) expressed concern about the need to control the spiraling cost of goods.
On the other hand, in Class ABC, the leading urgent national concerns are inflation (50 percent), workers’ pay (37 percent), criminality (36 percent), and corruption (36 percent).
In Class D, the top national concerns are inflation (48 percent) and workers’ pay (41 percent).
Among Class E, the most urgent national concern is inflation (56 percent).
Meanwhile, most Filipinos want the government to act on their local concerns such as road infrastructure (15.9 percent), flooding (11.2 percent), and illegal drugs (10.2 percent) more urgently.
The quarterly 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.
Real issues
Lawmakers said the survey results showed that Filipinos are more concerned about economic issues than illegal drugs.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said the government should listen to the clamor of the people or risk losing the support of Filipinos.
“The rising cost of basic goods and services, as well as how the salaries of workers can be increased are still the real issues that the government have to address,” Zarate said.
Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said the government has to do more to address economic issues.
“The country’s foremost concerns are gut issues - fighting inflation, creating jobs and increasing work pay and this is where the Duterte administration is perceived by many as having failed so far,” Baguilat said in a message to reporters.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said the survey debunks the myth that illegal drugs are the most urgent problem.
“The survey shows that felt needs of people at the local level in most parts of the country are basic service delivery more than their concern on drugs. While drug use and addicts/pushers remain among the top three local problems, it is not the only problem,” Villarin said.
He added that the survey “is a wake up call for President Duterte to engage more in local infrastructure building than mega infra projects under his build, build, build paradigm.”
But Palace spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Duterte administration is “in the right direction when it made fighting criminality and fighting corruption as its centerpiece program.”
“Filipinos consider these two issues as among their most urgent national concerns, and we thank our people for recognizing the efforts of the current government in delivering on this front,” Abella said in a statement.
He noted the survey results underscored the President’s “promise of genuine change to have safe neighborhoods and peaceful communities under a trustworthy government has been felt by people on the ground.”
“We are hopeful that this translates into increased investments and better economic prospects that address urgent national concerns, such as reducing poverty, controlling inflation, creating jobs, and improving the pay of workers to achieve our common aspiration of comfortable life for all,” Abella said.
with Ralph Edwin U. Villanueva