Residents of Baseco Compound settle inside modular tents provided by the local government at an evacuation center in Manila on October 12, 2021 amid severe tropical storm Maring. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/file
Palace notes 8% rise in individuals who say lives got better
MANILA — More than 3 out of 10 adult Filipinos have said the quality of their lives worsened in the past 12 months, with many saying that they experienced hunger during this time, a new survey said.
The Social Weather Stations' (SWS) non-commissioned survey published on Thursday noted that 34 percent of adult Pinoys said their way of living deteriorated in the past year.
This is lower than the results of last year's 4th quarter survey which said that 40 percent of interviewees felt the quality of their lives was worse.
Meanwhile, 34 percent of the respondents said their lives were unchanged while the other 32 percent said their lives have improved.
Overall, SWS said the resulting net score has improved compared to the 4th quarter of last year's -16, considered as "mediocre" to -2 or "fair."
"The April 2022 Net Gainer score is 14 points up from the mediocre -16 in December 2021, but still 20 points below the pre-pandemic level of the very high +18 in December 2019," said the pollster.
The poll was conducted between April 19 and 27 this year, with SWS physically interviewing 1,440 people.
NO. OF HUNGRY FAMILIES RISES
Those who said their quality of lives got worse experienced hunger, with a higher number of people reporting this sentiment compared to the 2021 4th quarter survey.
According to SWS, their latest poll indicated that 12.2 percent or some 3.1 million Filipino families had "involuntary hunger" in the past 3 months.
Chart from SWS
This means that these families "experienced being hungry and not having anything to eat – at least once" in the past quarter.
"Compared to December 2021, hunger rose from 13.6 percent among losers, and 11.1 percent among unchanged. However, it fell from 9.9 percent among gainers," the SWS said.
But Malacañang focused on the gains of the administration in the past months, noting how the number of those who said their lives got better increased in the past year.
The 32 percent who recently said their lives improved, acting Palace spokesperson Martin Andanar noted, is higher compared to the 24 percent in December last year.
"We view this improvement an incontrovertible proof that the current government’s pandemic response is working, where we put premium on both health and the economy," said Andanar in a statement.
"It is likewise a reaffirmation that we are now on our way to full economic recovery while maintaining our vigilance with the new COVID-19 variants," he added.
Earlier this year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order that laid out his 10-point agenda for economic recovery amid the threat of COVID-19, which included looser virus restrictions, further reopening the economy, and preparations for pandemic resilience.
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