‘90% of Pinoys see better year in 2004’

Despite the political and economic difficulties Filipinos experienced this year, Juan de la Cruz revealed anew his resilience against adversity and said he will greet the new year with hope instead of fear.

According to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), 90 percent of Filipinos said they will enter the new year with hope rather than fear, a sentiment widespread across all economic classes in all areas in the country.

According to SWS’ fourth quarter survey, 85 percent of respondents from Metro Manila and 89 percent of respondents from other parts of Luzon will greet the new year with hope.

Even more optimistic were the 91 percent of respondents from the Visayas and the 92 percent from Mindanao who expressed hope for 2004.

Filipinos’ spirit of hope even surpassed the joy with which they usually greet Christmas, according to the survey which was conducted from Nov. 8 to 24.

Of the 77 percent who said they were anticipating a happy Christmas, 93 percent said they would enter the coming year with hope and even among the 23 percent who expected a sad Christmas, 80 percent see 2004 with hope, SWS said.

The pollster said the local survey, which has been conducted since 2000, was patterned after the annual poll by the Allensbach Institute of Demoskopy, a pioneering opinion research center in Germany, where they asked Germans whether they will greet the new year with hopes or fears.

SWS said Filipinos were even more hopeful last year when 95 percent of respondents said they will enter 2003 with hope. In 2001, 88 percent said they were hopeful while 87 percent said they were hopeful in 2000.

In comparison with Filipinos’ apparent hopefulness, only 31 percent of respondents to Allensbach Institute’s 2002 poll said they would enter 2003 with hope. It was the lowest hopefulness index since the group started the poll in 1991.

On average since 1991, according to the Allensbach Institute, only 47.16 percent of German respondents were hopeful of the new year while an average 90 percent of Filipinos are hopeful for the new year.