Filipinos are optimistic if...

Filipinos are an optimistic lot, U.P. Prof. Felipe Miranda has always said. And this shows – again – in the latest survey of his Pulse Asia.

Eight out of ten Metro Manilans feel their personal condition is worse than, or at least remained the same as, last year. But eight out of ten also aver that things will get better in the next 12 months, or at least hold out. Only two out of ten say their lives improved since last year, but only two out of ten also think it will worsen next year.

Optimism is only with themselves, though. Asked about the nation’s quality of life, only three out of ten think it will get better next year, and four out of ten say it will remain the same. Three out of ten opine that things will get worse. Comparing the national economy this year and last, only one out of ten said things are better today. Four said it’s the same. Five fear it will get worse.

Does this explain why more and more Filipinos are seeking work abroad? Perhaps. Records show that 6,000 Filipinos leave the country each day to migrate permanently or find temporary jobs overseas. As the Pulse Asia survey somehow bears out, they see their individual lives improving elsewhere, while the country deteriorates.

The survey was conducted nationwide from March 22 to 26. It had 300 respondents from Metro Manila. Miranda says the national results will be out in two to three weeks.

Thirty-four percent of the Metro Manilans came from the ABC segment, the rich and upper-middle classes. Forty-two percent came from the D segment, the broad middle and working classes, with close to half owning residential lots. The E segment of poor folk comprised 24 percent. Half of the respondents are, half are female. All are 18 years or older.

Optimism about their personal condition show in demographics of age, education and social status.

The youth register highest optimism. Fifty-seven percent of respondents aged 18-24 see themselves improving in the next 12 months; 30 percent say their condition would be the same; only 11 percent think their life would be worse. Of the 25-34 age group, 48 percent are sure they’d be better off next year, 34 percent say they’d stay the same, 10 percent say they’d be worse off. The optimism tapers off with age. Of the 55-64 bracket, only 11 percent see their personal condition improving, 33 percent see it staying the same, and a good 56 percent saying they’d be worse off. Of the 65 and older, 20 percent say they’d be better off, 55 percent say "same as now," and 25 percent "worse than now."

But the expectation of both young and old respondents about change in national quality of life is not as optimistic: 21 to 30 percent of the six age brackets see the country improving, 33 to 52 percent see it remaining the same, 25 to 55 see it getting worse. If 57 percent of those aged 18-24 see themselves rising, only 29 percent see the country doing the same.

Optimism has a lot to do with educational attainment. Fifty-six percent of respondents who finished college and post-graduate courses say their personal condition will improve in the next 12 months. Another 56 percent of those who had some college units said the same. Only 15 percent of both educational brackets think their lives would get worse. Nineteen percent of both brackets think they’ll hold out. Down the line, only 13 percent of those who finished only elementary school think their personal condition would get better, 29 percent fear they’d be worse off, and 58 percent say it would be "same as now." Of those who had some high school or vocational education, only 25 percent see themselves rising, 22 percent see themselves sinking, and 53 percent saying they’d stay the same.

The trend shows in their view of the country’s quality of life. Only six percent of those with elementary schooling see the national quality of life turning better next year; 32 percent say it would get worse; 58 percent see it "same as now." Of those who had some high school or vocational courses, only 16 percent think the country would be better off, 34 see worse times ahead, 50 percent say things would remain the same. The more educated are more optimistic. Of those who finished college or post-grad courses, 43 percent say the country will improve next year. Twenty-eight percent of those who with college units feel the same.

Pulse Asia ranked the respondents’s social standing into three: very poor and poor, on the line, and well-off or wealthy. Levels of optimism about personal condition varies. But more respondents from all three ranks see their lives improving than pessimists who think they’d be worse off. Among the very poor and poor, 35 percent are sure they’d be better off in the next 12 months. Of those on the line, 42 percent see life improving. Of the well-off or wealthy, a good 58 percent see themselves rising higher. Only 23 percent of the poor and very poor say they’d be worse off. Only 17 and 16 percent, respectively of those on the line and wealthy think so too. Forty-one percent of the poor and on-the-line see themselves "same as now," as with 25 percent of the well-off.

Again, their optimism about the country in general is not as high. Of the poor and very poor, only 18 percent expect the national quality of life to turn better; 53 percent think things would stay the same; 28 percent even say it’d be worse off. Of those on the line, only 30 percent see the country improving, 38 percent say it would stay as it is, and 31 percent think it would deteriorate. Almost the same with the wealthy: 34 percent see better times, 34 percent "same as now," 31 percent see the country in worse times.

An earlier nationwide survey by the Social Weather Station shows the approval rating of President Gloria Arroyo dipping slightly. The Pulse Asia poll of Metro Manilans shows it rising from 23 percent in December 2001 to 26 percent in March 2002. Miranda stresses that he still has to tabulate and extrapolate the national results. But he says the rise by three points does not mean much.

Mrs. Arroyo just the same feels that she has to work harder on the economic front. Her spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao earlier acknowledged that the economy indeed was strained not only by a worldwide slump but by other conditions as well, notably kidnappings and political upheavals. "It was really a trying year for our people," he described 2001.

Going for the economist Mrs. Arroyo is the Pulse Asia finding that most Metro Manilans prefer high IQ in a President (58 percent) than those who prefer charisma (20 percent).

Economic matters remain high among them. Eighty-five percent in December 2001 and 88 percent in March 2002 say they are most concerned about economic recovery, the low pay of workers, grave poverty, and high prices of basic goods. Sixty-four percent in 2001 and 63 percent in 2002 rated as second highest concern the rising criminality, drug trafficking and addiction, and terrorism. Third in their order of priority, 57 percent in 2001 and 56 percent in 2002, are political issues like corruption in government, equal justice for ordinary and influential citizens, human rights and trust in public officials.

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