Filipinos look to 2008 with hope – poll

Despite the country’s problems, 84 percent of Filipinos look forward to 2008 with hope, a survey shows.

However, one of every two Filipinos or 50 percent says this Christmas will be the same as last year – neither more nor less prosperous, Pulse Asia said yesterday.

The sentiment of hope for the coming year is shared across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes, according to the Ulat ng Bayan October 2007 survey of Pulse Asia.

“The present figure is almost the same as that recorded in November 2006 (85 percent) but much higher than that posted in October 2005 (70 percent),” the independent pollster said.

On the other hand, nine percent will face 2008 with apprehension while seven percent will do so without hope and apprehension, Pulse Asia said.

“These views are articulated by nearly the same percentages across every geographic area and socio-economic class in the country (five percent to 14 percent and five percent to 10 percent, respectively),” the survey firm said.

The survey was conducted from Oct. 20 to 31, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above.

The sentiment that Christmas this year is neither more nor less prosperous is most pronounced in Metro Manila (57 percent) and among Filipinos belonging to the best-off socio-economic class ABC (61 percent), Pulse Asia said.

On the other hand, those in the poorest socio-economic Class E (42 percent), the Visayans (43 percent) and Mindanaoans (43 percent) are least inclined to think this way.

Nearly the same percentages of Filipinos believe that this Christmas season will be either more prosperous (27 percent) or less prosperous (23 percent) than last year, Pulse Asia said.

The survey found that those in Mindanao are most inclined to look forward to a more prosperous Christmas this year (38 percent) while this sentiment is least pronounced in the rest of Luzon, Metro Manila, and Class ABC (21 percent to 24 percent).

In contrast, those in Class ABC (15 percent) are least inclined to believe that the holidays this year will be less prosperous than last, while the other figures across geographic areas and socio-demographic groupings do not vary much from the national figure (19 percent to 28 percent versus 23 percent), Pulse Asia said.

The overall figures recorded in October 2007 are nearly the same as those obtained in Pulse Asia’s November 2006 survey, the pollster said.

However, these figures differ significantly from those recorded in October 2005 during which time practically the same percentages of Filipinos either believed that the Christmas season of 2005 will be the same as the previous year or expected that it would be less prosperous than last year (40 percent versus 43 percent) while the rest (16 percent) looked forward to a more prosperous Christmas, Pulse Asia said.

Pulse Asia’s nationwide survey has a plus or minus three percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

“Pulse Asia undertakes Ulat ng Bayan surveys on its own without any party singularly commissioning the research effort,” it said. – Helen Flores