Most Pinoys say RP not hopeless, won’t migrate – poll

Filipinos disagree with the view that the Philippines is a hopeless country and 54 percent would not migrate to other nations even if given the opportunity, a recent Pulse Asia survey showed.

Higher levels of disagreement are recorded in all areas of Mindanao (75 to 79 percent) and urban Visayas (77 percent) as well as among government and private sector employees (75 percent) and those who farm/fish for a living (77 percent), Pulse Asia said in its October 2008 Ulat ng Bayan Survey.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Oct. 14 to 27, found that almost the same percentages of Filipinos either agree that the Philippines is hopeless or are ambivalent on the matter (13 percent versus 18 percent).

The highest level of agreement is posted in urban Luzon (20 percent) while ambivalence is most marked in rural Luzon (24 percent), Pulse Asia said.

Pulse Asia said quarter on quarter, the sense of hopelessness declines in the National Capital Region and in balance Luzon, both by 13 percentage points.

It also declined in Mindanao by 21 percentage points and urban and rural areas, by 10 percentage points and 13 percentage points, respectively, Pulse Asia said.

Sense of hopelessness also went down among class D by 16 percentage points, males by 17 percentage points, those aged 45 to 54 years by 14 percentage points and those who did not reach college by 11 to 16 percentage points and those working by 19 percentage points.

“There is also a decline in the sense of hopelessness year-on-year,” Pulse Asia said. “Disagreement with the view that the country is hopeless stood at 54 percent in October 2007.”

The same survey also found 20 percent of Filipinos who say they would migrate to another country if given the opportunity.

“If it were possible for them to migrate to another country, 20 percent of Filipinos would do so while 54 percent would not,” Pulse Asia said.

Nearly a quarter or 24 percent cannot say if they would or would not migrate if given the opportunity, the survey firm said.

Those with at least some college education (32 to 35 percent), Visayans (32 to 40 percent), and those in Class ABC (34 percent) are most inclined to move to another country.

Disinclination to migrate is mostly manifested in the rest of Luzon (61 percent) and particularly in its rural areas (66 percent), the rural areas of the Philippines (61 percent), those with at best some high school education or vocational training (64 to 66 percent).

Unwillingness to migrate was expressed by 64 percent of farmers/fisherfolks, those aged 55 years old and above (65 to 67 percent), and residents of rural Mindanao (68 percent).

The highest levels of public ambivalence on the matter are recorded in Metro Manila with (32 percent) and urban Mindanao (35 percent).

Quarter on quarter the desire to migrate declines in balance Luzon by 22 percentage points, and among classes D and E, both by 12 percentage points; and both males and females, by 10 and nine percentage points, respectively, Pulse Asia said.

Desire to migrate went down by 19 percentage points among Filipinos aged 35 to 44 years; those aged 55 to 64 years, by 20 percentage points; those with some high school and vocational preparation, by 22 percentage points and among those working, by 13 percentage points.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults aged 18 years old and above.

Malacañang said the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey show that most Filipinos remain nationalistic in spite of the impacts of the global financial crisis and the endless criticisms against the government. -– Helen Flores with Marvin Sy