Malacañang said that while year 2020 has been challenging for everybody, things will be better as the government continues to reopen the economy after months of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that 3 of 5 or 62 percent of adult Filipinos said that quality of life got worse this year.
(OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, Roque said the result of the survey conducted from November 21 to 25 was not surprising given what everybody went through this 2020.
"The Year 2020 has been a challenging year for the Philippines with lockdowns adversely affecting the socioeconomic condition of our people. It is, therefore, not surprising," he said Wednesday.
Roque, however, said that the situation will get better now that the government eased restrictions and allowed the reopening of many industries.
"However, things are looking up. The economy has reopened which means more livelihood opportunities have become available," he said.
"This has been felt by our people as it is noteworthy to mention that the latest figure, 62 percent in November 2020, is a marked improvement from the 82 percent of Filipinos who had the same belief last September 2020," he added.
Roque likewise welcomed the result of the same survey that showed the decline of Filipino families experiencing hunger from the record-high of 30.7 percent in September 2020 to 16 percent in the last quarter of the year.
He also cited the October 2020 Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that showed that the country’s unemployment rate eased to 8.7 percent in October 2020 from a high of 17.7 percent last April 2020.
According to the Palace official, the government will continue reminding the public to take care of themselves so they can all make a living amid the current worldwide health crisis.
"Ingat buhay para sa hanapbuhay (Protecting our lives, so we can make a living) will continue to be our direction in 2021 with the opening of more industries to revitalize our economy and stimulate growth for the betterment of the lives of our people next year and beyond," Roque said.