Forty-two percent of non-home-based working Filipinos said going to work is "very much harder" now than before the pandemic, based on the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Friday, May 7.
The nationwide survey conducted from Nov. 21 to 25, 2020 among 1,500 Filipinos also found that 19 percent said it is "somewhat much harder now," 11 percent said it is "slightly harder now," and 28 percent said it is the same as before.
SWS also asked non-home-based workers: "What mode of transportation do you use most commonly to travel to your work?"
The respondents were shown a list of choices and were allowed to give more than one answer.
To this, 44 percent volunteered to answer that they walk to work, making it the most common means of getting to work during the pandemic.
The top response is followed by motorcycle (24 percent), tricycle (14 percent), jeepney/multi-cab (8 percent), bicycle (5 percent), bus (3 percent), private car (3 percent), and motorboat/banca (1 percent).
Obtaining marginal scores are taxi/transport network vehicle service or TNVS (e.g., Grab) (0.4 percent), pedicab (0.4 percent), train (0.2 percent), carabao (0.2 percent), truck (0.2 percent), e-bike (0.2 percent), and airplane (0.1 percent).
Among those who said going to work is very much harder than pre-pandemic, walking (47 percent) is the most common way of getting to work, followed by motorcycle (22 percent) and tricycle (13 percent).
Going to work most difficult in Mindanao
SWS said the percentage of those who considered going to work to be very much harder compared to pre-pandemic is highest in Mindanao (60 percent), followed by the Visayas (48 percent), Metro Manila (36 percent), and Balance Luzon (27 percent).
In Mindanao, walking (58 percent) is the most common means of getting to work, followed distantly by motorcycle (17 percent) and tricycle (14 percent).
Walking (44 percent) is also the most common way of getting to work in the Visayas, followed by motorcycle (27 percent) and tricycle (10 percent).
Walking (39 percent) and motorcycle (30 percent) top the list in the balance Luzon, followed distantly by tricycle (17 percent).
In Metro Manila, jeepney/multi-cab (25 percent), walking (21 percent), and motorcycle (20 percent) are the most common means of getting to work, followed by tricycle (14 percent), bus (14 percent), and bicycle (11 percent).