An independent survey conducted by the OCTA Research in December 2023 found that a “significant majority” of adult Filipinos believe the country is on the right track.
The results of the “Tugon ng Masa” survey, which was conducted from Dec. 10 to 14 and released on Wednesday, Feb. 14, revealed that 64 percent of Filipinos believe the country is in the right direction in terms of policies, programs articulated, and actions taken by the current administration.
Meanwhile, 21 percent of Filipinos think the country is on the wrong track.
“The percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the right direction increased from 62 percent last October 2023 to 64 percent in December 2023. This two-percentage point increase is the first time a rise in the positive outlook on the country’s trajectory has been observed since October 2022,” OCTA said in its report.
Most Metro Manilans think PH on right track
Of all the major areas, OCTA said Metro Manila has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos (81 percent) who believe the country is headed in the right direction, while Balance Luzon has the lowest percentage (57 percent).
Meanwhile, it found that Class ABC (76 percent) had the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who believe the country was on the right track, while Class E (38 percent) had a more pessimistic view of the country’s future.
More young Filipinos have pessimistic views
Across age groups, OCTA noted that a high percentage of Filipinos aged 75 and up (77 percent) and 25 to 34 (75 percent) believe the country is on the right track.
In contrast, a large proportion of younger Filipinos, particularly those aged 18 to 24 (32 percent), expressed a negative outlook, indicating that they do not believe the country is in the right direction, it said.
Meanwhile, OCTA said the percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the right direction is higher in urban (66 percent) than in rural (61 percent) areas.
Men, women optimism regarding PH direction equal
OCTA said that males and females share the same percentage (64 percent) of adult Filipinos who believe the country is headed in the right direction.
“Across educational attainment, those with college or postgraduate education (71 percent) had the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the right direction, while the lowest percentage is among those without formal education or elementary education only (61 percent),” it added.
The Fourth Quarter 2023 Tugon ng Masa survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult respondents nationwide.
It has a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level, with subnational estimates for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao at a ±6 percent margin of error.