MAJORITY of Filipinos want the current administration to immediately address rising prices of basic goods and services.
The figures from the September 2018 Ulat ng Bayan revealed that 63 percent of the 1,800 respondents said controlling the rising costs of commodities is their top concern.
“This is the predominant opinion in all geographic areas (53 percent to 66 percent) and socioeconomic classes (52 percent to 65 percent),” Pulse Asia, a nationwide public opinion polling body noted on Thursday, September 27.
Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes also confirmed that the most Filipinos are not satisfied with the efforts of the government in curbing inflation as reported by The Philippine Star.
“As far as the national issue deemed most urgent by Filipinos is concerned (i.e., inflation), disapproval is the predominant opinion with 51 percent of Filipinos having a negative assessment of the present administration’s handling of this issue,” Holmes said.
Similarly, 28 percent of Filipinos were not satisfied with the measures of the government in reducing poverty while 21 percent disapprove of the work done by the administration on the issue and increasing the pay of workers.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured the public that the government is prioritizing the problem with regards to inflation.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Inflation rose to 6.4 percent in August, the highest reported price surge in nine years, followed by oil and rice price hike nationwide.
Other concerns
Salary hike ranked second on the list of concerns in the said survey. About 50 percent consider it an urgent national concern according to most people in Metro Manila (55 percent), Visayas (59 percent) and Class ABC which constitutes upper to middle-class citizens (52 percent).
Reducing poverty (32 percent), creating jobs (30 percent), fighting graft and corruption on government (26 percent) and combating criminality (23 percent) were the other issues deemed urgent by Filipinos followed by inflation and pay hike.
A portion of the respondents also listed other concern such as promoting peace (14 percent), protecting the environment (13 percent), reducing the amount of taxes paid by citizens (12 percent), and enforcing the rule of law (11 percent).
Among the issues with the least concern were the welfare of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and population growth both with six percent, terrorism and national territorial integrity at five percent and charter change with only three percent.
The said survey was conducted from September 1 to 7 using face-to-face interviews. It has a + 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.
“In keeping with our academic nature, no religious, political, economic, or partisan group influenced any of these processes. Pulse Asia Research undertakes Ulat ng Bayan surveys on its own without any party singularly commissioning the research effort,” said Pulse Asia.
