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OCTA: Filipinos most concerned about inflation, wage, food; least concerned about charter change
Philippines
National
OCTA: Filipinos most concerned about inflation, wage, food; least concerned about charter change
OCTA: Filipinos most concerned about inflation, wage, food; least concerned about charter change
Published May 15, 2023 06:30 am
Controlling inflation, having access to affordable food, and raising workers’ wages remain the most urgent national concerns of Filipinos, according to the latest “Tugon ng Masa” survey conducted by OCTA Research.
The non-commissioned survey, which was conducted from March 24 to 28 found that Filipinos are most concerned about controlling the increase in prices of goods and services (57 percent), improving/increasing wages or salaries of workers (45 percent), and accessing affordable food such as rice, vegetables, and meat (44 percent).
“Spread out over different locales and socioeconomic groups, their concerns spread out differently, with Filipinos who reside in the Visayas region saying that they were less concerned about controlling the increase in the prices of goods and services, with only 46 percent of them saying that this is an urgent personal concern,” OCTA said.
“The trend is different in the National Capital Region (NCR), Balance Luzon, and Mindanao, with nearly six out of 10 Filipinos saying that controlling the increase of prices of goods and services should be the government's top priority,” it pointed out.
According to OCTA, Visayans are more concerned about access to affordable food such as rice, vegetables, and meat (56 percent) than those in NCR, Mindanao (both at 38 percent), and Balance Luzon (44 percent).
Those belonging to Class E are more concerned about access to affordable food (52 percent) than those belonging to Classes ABC (45 percent) and D (41 percent).
OCTA said those in Classes D and E (57 percent and 60 percent, respectively) agree that the government should give priority to controlling price increases.
Comparatively, only 48 percent of those in Class ABC voiced the same concern.
Meanwhile, those in NCR and Mindanao (50 percent and 48 percent, respectively) agree that the government should be more concerned about improving/increasing wages or salaries of workers.
Fewer respondents in Balance Luzon (44 percent) and Visayas (40 percent) believe that the government should be more concerned with improving/increasing worker wages or salaries.
“Socioeconomic class D (57 percent) and E (60 percent) were also among the most worried regarding this concern, while class ABC was the least worried about this concern (24 percent),” OCTA said.
Few Filipinos consider Covid-19, charter change as pressing national issues
According to OCTA, only a “minority” of adult Filipinos in the NCR consider controlling the spread of Covid-19 to be an urgent national concern. In contrast, “most” adult Filipinos do not consider changing the Constitution as an urgent national issue. “Only one percent of Filipinos noted that charter change was an urgent national concern,” OCTA said. Between October 2022 and March 2023, OCTA pointed out that the percentage of Filipinos who are concerned about controlling inflation (57 percent in both surveys), improving/increasing wages or salaries of workers (48 percent to 45 percent), and accessing affordable food like rice, vegetables, and meat (46 percent to 44 percent) remained “generally unchanged.” Meanwhile, it said the concern about controlling the spread of Covid-19, which is one of the top national concerns of 2020 and 2021, slowly declined since the last quarter of 2021 as the pandemic became more manageable.Staying healthy, finishing/providing education, keeping employment top urgent ‘personal’ concerns
During the same survey period, OCTA found that the top urgent “personal” concerns include staying healthy (66 percent), completing or providing education (51 percent), and maintaining employment (50 percent). “Those in the NCR (78 percent), Balance Luzon (70 percent), and Mindanao (68 percent) were among those who wanted to stay healthy and avoid illness as their concern, as opposed to Visayas respondents (51 percent),” OCTA said. “Class ABC (72 percent) and Class D (68 percent) were also concerned about staying healthy and avoiding illness as compared to Class E (53 percent),” it added. However, the survey found that Visayas are more concerned about finishing schooling or providing education for their children (59 percent), as compared to those from the NCR (48 percent), Balance Luzon (47 percent), and Mindanao (52 percent). Class ABC was less worried about this personal concern (40 percent), as compared to Class D (51 percent) and E (56 percent). OCTA said respondents in Mindanao (35 percent) were the least concern about having a secure and well-paying job or source of income, followed by those in the NCR (39 percent). Class ABC (38 percent) also has the lowest percentage of those who believe this as a personal concern. “The percentage of those who said that they are concerned about staying healthy and avoiding illness (68 percent to 66 percent), finishing schooling or being able to provide education for their children (48 percent to 51 percent), and having a secure and well-paying job or source of income (50 percent for both) remained the same from October 2022 to March 2023,” OCTA said. “Those who said that they are concerned about having enough to eat every day also declined, from 43 percent in October 2022 to 31 percent in March 2023, an eight percent decline,” it added. The Tugon ng Masa survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult respondents nationwide and has a margin of error of +/-3 percent.