Pulse Asia: 78% of Pinoys hopeful about year ahead

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the hardships they faced this year, nearly four out of five Filipinos are hopeful about the coming year, according to a survey by pollster Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia said the survey, conducted on 1,200 respondents October 14 to 27, also showed a small majority of Filipinos expect the coming Christmas season to be "no different" from last year. "Even as only 20% of Filipinos think the coming Christmas season will be more prosperous than last year, a big majority (78%) is hopeful about the year ahead," Pulse Asia said on its website. "Despite the many problems that Filipinos continue to face on a daily basis, big majorities (77% to 88%) in the Philippines as a whole and across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes are facing the year ahead with hope," it added. Yet, it said the predominant public sentiment toward the coming holiday season is that it would not be any different from last year, with 52 percent expecting the coming Christmas season to be no different from last year. It added such a sentiment is shared by near to small majorities (49% to 59%) in nearly all geographic areas and socio-economic classes. On the other hand, Pulse Asia noted that year-on-year, fewer Filipinos now feel the coming Christmas season will be more prosperous compared to the previous year (20% versus 27%). This sentiment is also less pronounced in October 2008 relative to October 2007 in Mindanao (-12 percentage points), Class E (-12 percentage points), and the Visayas (-15 percentage points). "Those in Mindanao are presently more inclined to believe that the coming Christmas holidays will be poorer than last year (+15 percentage points). At the national level, this sentiment is expressed by 28% of Filipinos," it said. On the other hand, Pulse Asia said its survey showed 11 percent of Filipinos will face the year ahead either with apprehension or without hope and apprehension. These sentiments are shared by anywhere from 6 percent to 17 percent across geographic areas and socio-economic groupings, it said. Year-on-year, the only notable movements in the figures are recorded in the rest of Luzon where there is a drop in the percentage of those facing the coming year with hope (-12 percentage points) and in the Visayas where more respondents are now saying they will face the year ahead without hope and apprehension (+12 percentage points). The survey also showed about one of four Filipinos (27%) says that Filipinos pray primarily to give thanks to God or because it has become a customary part of their religion. "Every year, the Christmas season sees many Filipinos observing the simbang gabi – a nine-day novena that has become part of the holiday tradition in the country and is the Filipinos' way of giving thanks to God for the year that is about to end, among other things," it said. Survey findings show that almost the same percentages across all socio-economic classes consider these to be the main reason why Filipinos pray – to express their gratitude to God or because praying has become a customary practice. But across geographic areas, big pluralities in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao (33% to 35%) say the primary reason Filipinos pray is because it has become a custom while in the rest of Luzon, a big plurality (31%) identifies giving thanks to God as the primary reason Filipinos pray. In contrast, essentially the same percentages of Filipinos (10% to 12%) cite as the primary reason why Filipinos pray to ask forgiveness; to ask for the fulfillment of their needs; to ask for help; and to ask for their daily needs. About one in three Filipinos (32%) prays once daily – a practice reported by 29 percent to 38 percent across geographic areas and socio-economic classes. On the other hand, almost the same percentages of Filipinos report that they pray either two to three times daily or occasionally (20% versus 22%). Some 16 percent of Filipinos say they pray more than three times a day and 10 percent do so once a week. The survey also showed that while 45 percent of Filipinos report going to church or worship once a week, 43 percent say they do so occasionally. Almost the same percentages in the rest of Luzon and Classes D and E say that they go to church either occasionally or once a week. In Metro Manila, Mindanao, and Class ABC, near to sizeable majorities (47% to 63%) go to church once a week while in the Visayas, 53 percent go to church occasionally. The survey used a multistage probability sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above, and has a +/- 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have a +/- 6% error margin, also at 95 percent confidence level. While the field interviews for this survey were being done, several developments dominated the news headlines. The major developments during this period included the financial crisis in the United States that soon spilled over into other parts of the world including the Philippines, the American presidential elections, the filing of a new impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Supreme Court decision on the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), and the controversial trip to Russia of several police officials that involved a "contingency fund" of P6.9 million. Other issues included the deportation from the US of former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante who is widely believed to be the brains behind the fertilizer fund scam, the decline in the price of oil at the world market, the impending increase in the electricity charges of the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), and the food scare in China and other parts of the world over the discovery of melamine, an industrial chemical, in milk and other food products. - GMANews.TV