A Pulse Asia survey has found that Filipinos are most concerned about controlling the inflation, followed by other economic-related concerns, such as increasing wages and reducing poverty.
In the Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted from June 24 to 27 with 1,200 respondents, 57 percent of Filipinos identified controlling inflation as the most urgent national concern.
“This is the leading first-ranked national concern (29 percent) and is deemed urgent by small to considerable majorities across geographic areas and socio-economic groupings (62 percent to 69 percent and 58 percent to 62 percent, respectively), with the rest of Luzon and Class ABC being the exceptions (46 percent and 48 percent, respectively),” Pulse Asia said in a statement on Tuesday, July 12.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of Filipinos are concerned about the need to increase the pay of workers while a third set of urgent national concerns includes reducing poverty (33 percent) and creating more jobs (29 percent).
Twenty percent of Filipinos expressed the need to combat corruption.
Pulse Asia explained that inflation is the most urgent national concern of those in Metro Manila (67 percent) and Mindanao (69 percent), including those belonging to Class D and E (58 percent and 62 percent, respectively).
Those living in the rest of Luzon and the Visayas are most concerned about inflation (46 percent and 62 percent, respectively) and workers’ pay (43 percent and 52 percent, respectively), while the leading national concerns in Class ABC are inflation (48 percent), workers’ pay (43 percent), and poverty (31 percent).
“In contrast, after more than two years since the first national lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic was declared, only 7 percent of Filipino adults now say it is urgent for the present dispensation to control the spread of Covid-19,” Pulse Asia pointed out.
Other issues each identified as urgent by less than 10 percent of Filipinos are those related to taxes (9 percent), environmental degradation (7 percent), support for the restoration of small businesses (7 percent), national territorial defense (7 percent), welfare of overseas Filipino workers (5 percent), and terrorism (3 percent).
Moreover, from March 2022 to June 2022, Pulse Asia said the only notable changes in public opinion regarding urgent national concerns are the decline in the levels of public concern about helping those who lost their source of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic (-5 percentage points), fighting graft and corruption in government (-6 percentage points), and resolving the problem of involuntary hunger (-6 percentage points).
Dealing with inflation should be prioritized by PBBM
For 38.4 percent of Filipinos, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must prioritize dealing with the rising prices of basic goods.
“This is the top response in all areas (34.6 percent to 47.2 percent) and Classes D and E (38.4 percent and 52.3 percent, respectively).
For those in Class ABC, the priorities of the new president should be to provide jobs or other sources of income (30.7 percent), controlling inflation (26.3 percent), and addressing issues concerning the agricultural sector (14.2 percent).
“At the national level, aside from inflation, the only other priority issues each cited by at least 5 percent of Filipino adults are providing jobs to the poor (19.7 percent), addressing the concerns of the agricultural sector (8.8 percent), increasing workers’ pay (6.8 percent), and reducing poverty and extending greater assistance to the poor (5.1 percent).