Majority of Filipinos said controlling inflation remains the “most urgent national concern” that the Marcos administration must address immediately.

OCTA Research asked 1,200 respondents between March 11 and 14 to identify up to three most important issues on which they believe President March’s administration should act immediately.

Based on the survey results, which were released on Friday, April 19, two-thirds, or 66 percent, of Filipinos identified “controlling inflation” as the most urgent national concern.

The next most urgent concerns were “improving/increasing wages or salaries of workers,” and “access to affordable food like rice, vegetables, and meat,” each at 44 percent.

These were followed by “creating more jobs” and “reducing poverty” at 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, 18 percent of Filipinos identified “providing free quality education” as a most urgent national concern, followed by “fighting graft and corruption in government” at 12 percent, and “promoting peace and order” at 11 percent.

Single-digit percentages were received on key issues, such as enforcing the law on all whether influential or ordinary people (9 percent), fighting criminality (7 percent), reducing the amount of taxes (7 percent), stopping the destruction and abuse of our environment (5 percent), defending the integrity of Philippine territory against foreigners (4 percent), and controlling population growth (3 percent).

The survey found that the least important issues were controlling the spread of Covid-19 (2 percent), protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (2 percent), preparing to face any kind of terrorist threat (1 percent), and Cha-cha (1 percent).

The “Tugon ng Masa” survey conducted by OCTA in the first quarter of 2024 was independent and non-commissioned.