Palace not surprised by Filipinos’ life expectation

The SWS, in its poll released on Tuesday, found that 43 percent of Filipinos are “pessimists” as they expect their quality of life to worsen in the next 12 months. (File photo: Frank Lloyd de la Cruz/Unsplash)

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday said it understands the Filipinos’ belief that their life would worsen in the next 12 months, considering the problems the country is still facing due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace was not surprised that 43 percent of Filipinos are expecting their life to get worse in the next 12 months, according to the May 4 to 10 survey released by polling firm Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Roque said the public’s response is already expected since the Covid-19 outbreak remains a threat not only to the Philippines but also to other virus-hit countries.

“Syempre po, alam naman natin na dahil nagsara ang ekonomiya, eh talagang mahihirapan po ang buong mundo, hindi lang naman po ang Pilipinas (Because of the economic shutdown, the entire world, not only the Philippines, will face challenges),” he said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4.

The SWS, in its poll released on Tuesday, found that 43 percent of Filipinos are “pessimists” as they expect their quality of life to worsen in the next 12 months.

It noted that only 24 percent are “optimists” about their life improvement, while another 24 percent expect their life to be the same in the next 12 months.

“The 43 percent proportion of pessimists in May 2020 is the new peak in the 37-year-history of 135 SWS surveys, breaking the previous record 34 percent in March 2005,” the SWS said. “Meanwhile, the 24 percent optimists in May 2020 is just four points above the record-low 20 percent in October 2000 and March 2005.”

It also said the May 2020 net optimism score, which is at a “very low” -18, is the “worst in survey history,” as it plummeted from “excellent” +44 in December 2019.

The SWS added that the last time the net personal optimism score was negative was in June 2008, which was at a “very low” -6.

“Net Optimism is rarely negative. Only 12 out of the 135 surveys since 1984 have a score of net zero or lower. Out of the 12, the score reached very low levels in only four instances: October 2000 (-13), March 2005 (-13), May 2005 (-12), and May 2020 (-18),” it said.

The poll reported record-low net optimism in the Visayas (“very low” -37 from “very high” +34) and Mindanao (“very low” -32 from “excellent” +45). These were followed by Metro Manila (“very low” -16 from “excellent” +44) and Balance Luzon (“low” -5 from “excellent” +47).

By educational attainment, a “low” net optimism score was recorded only among college graduates (-7) while a “very low” rating was posted among non-elementary graduates (-30), elementary graduates (-27), and junior high school (-18).

Net personal optimism was also “very low” among those who have a job and receiving full pay (-13), those who never had a job (-14), those who have no job at present but used to have one (-20), and those who have a job but are not receiving pay (-26).

The SWS interviewed 4,010 working-age Filipinos who are 15 years old and above through mobile phone and computer-assisted interviews. It used sampling error margins of ±2 percentage points for national percentages, ±6 percentage points for Metro Manila, ±2 percentage points for Balance Luzon, and ±3 percentage points each for the Visayas and Mindanao.

Roque said the government is exhausting all efforts to ensure the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.

“Kinakailangan lahat tayo ay bumangon at hindi po madali itong proseso ng pagbangon. Naiintindihan po namin iyan (We need to recover but the recovery process is not easy. So we understand their sentiments),” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte first placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March this year to combat Covid-19.

The quarantine restrictions were eventually relaxed after the ECQ, the highest level of community quarantine, was imposed only in Cebu City until June 30.

A modified ECQ was implemented in Talisay City but later downgraded to general community quarantine (GCQ).

A GCQ was imposed in Metro Manila; the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor; and the cities of Santiago, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Zamboanga, and Davao.

The rest of the country remained under modified GCQ.