Filipinos' optimism down by 11 points to net +24 — SWS

UPDATED 4:00 p.m. - As the Aquino administration moves closer to marking its first year in June, the Filipinos' optimism seems to be "diminishing," according to a survey conducted by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS). However, the SWS said its survey, conducted March 4 to 7, showed those who are bullish about their personal lives and the economy still significantly outnumber "defeatists," at least for now. According to the study, 35 percent of Filipinos believe their lives will improve in the next 12 months, compared to 11 percent who said otherwise. The results of the SWS survey were published Friday in SWS’ media partner BusinessWorld. Programs for the people Meanwhile, Malacañang on Friday vowed to use the recent SWS survey result to intensify its efforts in implementing programs for the people. In an interview with reporters, Herminio Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, said optimism or attitude ratings are helpful indicators on the directions the government should pursue towards improving the quality of government services. He, however, clarified that the SWS survey result showing a diminishing optimism among Filipinos should be viewed as a subset of the survey conducted on March 4 to 7 showing a decline in the satisfaction rating of President Aquino. “We look at this as an impetus for us to intensify our efforts to implement the programs of government that we have committed ourselves to implementing especially in the case of having to respond to continuing increases in oil prices and prime commodities," he said. He admitted that the administration needs to provide social safety nets especially to the poorest families. “Kailangan pong bigyan natin sila ng kapasidad or kakayahan to cope at ma-soften naman po, ma-cushion ‘yung impact ng mga price hikes na ito," he said. Coloma acknowledged that the optimism of the public has been influenced by the events and for that period the most dominant was the oil price hike. He noted that everytime the oil prices increase, the level of optimism of the people goes down. Optimism down While the March survey showed a “high" net personal optimism score of +24 (optimistic minus pessimistic), this was 11 points down from November 2010’s “very high" +35 (42 percent optimistic, 7 percent pessimistic). The respondents’ outlook on how the economy would fare in the year ahead also deteriorated, plunging 26 points to just +4 (27% “will be better" minus 24% “will be worse") from +30 (39 percent minus 8 percent) last November. Asked about how their lives had changed in the past 12 months, 36 percent said it had worsened and 26 percent said it improved, resulting in a net gainers-losers score of -13, eight points lower than November’s -5. Net personal optimism dropped The SWS said net personal optimism dropped in all areas except in the Visayas, where it rose by three points to a “very high" +33. It was down by 21 points in Balance Luzon (Luzon minus Metro Manila) to a “fair" +17, 11 points to a still “very high" +30 in Metro Manila, and seven points to a “high" +25 in Mindanao. Declines were recorded in all socioeconomic classes. The indicator fell by 31 points in class ABC to +21 (“high"), by 15 in class E to +17 (“fair"), and by eight points to +27 (“high") among the class D or masa. Net economic optimism plunged in all areas and classes. Balance Luzon saw a 34-point drop to -3 while a slightly lower 27-point fall to +14 was recorded in Metro Manila. The decline was 21 points to +9 in Mindanao and 18 points to +5 in the Visayas. Class ABC’s economic optimism plummeted 44 points to +3 while the masa’s dove by 27 points to +1. Among the class E, the result was a 21-point tumble to +11. Net gainers Reflecting the latest personal optimism scores, net gainers — the percent of gainers over losers – became less negative in the Visayas (up six points to -8) and remained steady in Metro Manila (-7). It worsened in Balance Luzon (down 14 points to -19) and Mindanao (an identical 14-point fall to -10). Net gainers fell to double-digit negatives in all classes, the SWS said. The drop was 26 points to -16 for class ABC, 14 points to -17 in class E and four points to -11 among the class D. Score standards The SWS classifies net personal optimism scores of +30 and above as “very high" and +20 to +29 as “high" since they are greater than what is normally expected or above the category containing the median and the mode (“fair", ranging from +10 to +19). For net economic optimism and net gainers-losers, the SWS classes the most common answers, the median and the modal, as “low" and “very low." “Fair" is assigned to the negative category (-9 to zero) as this is above what is normally expected. “Mediocre" applies to the category between “fair" and “low." In the March survey, the SWS polled 1,200 adults nationwide via face-to-face interviews. Error margins of ±3% for national and ±6% for area percentages applied to the survey. Aquino satisfaction down; hunger, poverty up Earlier, the SWS disclosed its survey showed President Benigno Aquino III's satisfaction ratings have taken a dip. It said that while most Filipinos approve of Aquino, his net satisfaction rating is down 13 points to +51 (69% satisfied minus the 18% dissatisfied) from November’s +64 (74% satisfied, 10% dissatisfied). According to the SWS survey, nearly half or 48 percent said Aquino's purchase of a Porsche sports car last year was not a good example for the chief executive of a country like the Philippines. The results reflected a poll by Pulse Asia Feb. 24 to March 6 where Aquino's ratings dropped slightly to 74 percent from 79 percent Oct. 20 to 29. Also, the SWS disclosed some 20.5 percent of Filipinos or about 4.1 million families are going hungry while more Filipinos are considering themselves poor. The survey, also conducted March 4 to 7, said some 20.5 percent of Filipino families claimed to have gone hungry at least once in the past three months. "This was up from the 18.1 percent (an estimated 3.4 million families) recorded in November 2010 when the rate again began climbing from that year’s 15.9 percent low," it said. Also, the survey found 51 percent, or some 10.4 million families, consider themselves "mahirap" or poor – two points up from November’s 49 percent. — LBG, GMA News