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PULSE
Asia’s latest survey, Ulat ng Bayan, shows that across
the nation, most Filipinos, comprising 66 percent, feel
that the economy is in a worse state now than it was
three years ago.
Pulse
Asia (PA) released its survey Monday, saying that two of
every three Filipinos believed that the state of the
country’s economy has worsened since 2005.
The
survey group said this sentiment was shared by
considerable to big majorities (61 percent to 74
percent) across geographic areas and socioeconomic
classes.
“In
contrast, only 11 percent of Filipinos believe that the
present economic situation is better now than in 2005,
while about a quarter [23 percent] says there has been
no change, positive or negative, in the state of the
country’s economy between 2005 and today.”
According to PA, these views are articulated by nearly
the same percentages of respondents across geographic
and socioeconomic subgroupings.
Among
the majority saying the national economy has
deteriorated in the past three years, 75 percent said
they strongly felt this deterioration in their own
lives, expressed among all socioeconomic classes and by
big majorities across geographic areas from 70 percent
in
Mindanao to 85 percent in the Visayas.
On the
other hand, only 4 percent said this deterioration in
the national economy did not have any impact on their
personal situation, while 22 percent felt that the
worsening of the country’s economy had some effect on
their own.
In the
case of those who believe that the Philippine economy
improved between 2005 and the present, a small majority
(56 percent) said they somewhat felt this improvement in
their own lives—a sentiment shared by considerable
majorities (60 percent to 66 percent) across almost all
geographic areas (Mindanao being the exception) and most
prominently in the D class (66 percent).
In
contrast, almost the same percentages say either they
did not feel or they strongly felt (24 percent versus 20
percent) the effect of this economic growth on their
personal situation.
A big
plurality (43 percent) of those in Mindanao reports
having strongly felt the improvement in the national
economy; while public opinion among respondents
belonging to the better-off Class ABC and the poorest
Class E is essentially divided.
The
survey is based on how people felt the economy has
progressed from 2005 to March 2008 called the State of
the National Economy and Filipinos Quality of Life; with
a probability sample of 1,200 respondents 18 years old
and above, and a margin of error of plus or minus 3
percent at the 95-percent confidence level.
Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas
covered in the survey (Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao) have a plus or minus 6 percent
margin of error, also at 95 percent confidence level.
Pulse
Asia said face-to-face field interviews for this project
were conducted from February 21 to March 8, 2008.
While
the survey was being undertaken, several major
developments were hogging the headlines: the continuing
Senate investigation into the ZTE-NBN issue, the various
protest actions calling for President Arroyo to step
down from office and the divided stance of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the issue of
presidential resignation.
Also
dominating the headlines were President Arroyo’s
admission that she knew the problems surrounding the
ZTE-NBN deal prior to the signing of the supply
contract, the 22nd commemoration of the Edsa People
Power 1, the Senate testimony of another witness linking
the First Couple to the ZTE-NBN controversy and the big
anti-Arroyo rally in
Makati
on February 29.
Pulse
Asia noted that the newspapers also carried major
stories related to the campus tour of whistle-blower
engineer Rodolfo Lozada Jr. in Metro Manila; the Senate
rejection of the Supreme Court’s compromise proposal
regarding former Neda chairman Romulo Neri’s petition on
the executive privilege; the scrapping of EO 464; the
controversial joint exploration deal between the
Philippines, China and Vietnam; and the increase in the
prices of oil and other basic goods. |
