More Pinoys see life improving

MANILA, Philippines – More adult Filipinos are expecting their personal quality of life to improve in the next 12 months, the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The non-commissioned First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey taken from Feb. 20 to 23 showed 32 percent of adult Filipinos expecting their personal quality of life to improve – or “personal optimists” – in the next 12 months. Nineteen percent – “personal pessimists” – expect it to get worse, bringing the Net Personal Optimism to +14, which SWS termed “fair.”

However, nearly half of adult Filipinos said their lives have worsened in the last 12 months.

The 47 percent of 1,200 respondents, called “losers” in the survey, was an increase of four points from the fourth quarter of 2008, SWS said.

Those saying their lives had improved, or “gainers,” remained at 19 percent, according to the First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey.

SWS said compared to the Fourth Quarter of 2008, personal optimism rose by two points, but personal pessimism rose by four points. “Thus Net Personal Optimism was more or less unchanged,” it said.

“This brings the gainers-losers gap to a low -28, or worse by four points from the previous quarter,” the SWS said.

Optimism that the Philippine economy would get better (economic optimists) rose by one point to 19 percent in February, while pessimism stayed at 38 percent. The Net Economic Optimism score was a mediocre –19.

SWS said Net Economic Optimism has been at low to very low levels over the past six quarters, ranging from -19 to -39.

SWS said personal optimism rose in Luzon outside Metro Manila but dropped in the Visayas.

Compared to the previous quarter, Net Personal Optimism in balance Luzon rose by six points, to a high +23 in February.

It fell by 15 points in the Visayas, to a low –4; by six points in Mindanao, to a fair +11; and by one point in Metro Manila, to a fair +14.

Net Personal Optimism rose by two points in class D, to a fair +16 in February. It fell by 13 points in class E, down to a mediocre +5, and by four points in class ABC, to a fair +15.

SWS said the gainers-losers gap has narrowed in Mindanao but widened in the Visayas.

The number of Losers exceeding Gainers in Mindanao eased by six points from the previous quarter, slightly improving to a mediocre -16 in February, the survey firm said.

However, it worsened by 19 points in the Visayas, down to a very low –49; by five points in Metro Manila, to a very low –33; and by two points in balance Luzon, to a low -23.

It worsened by 14 points in class E, falling to a very low -36, and by three points in class ABC, to a mediocre -17. It remained at a low -26 in class D or “masa.”

The SWS survey also showed that economic pessimism eased in Metro Manila but worsened in the Visayas.

Economic pessimism eased in Metro Manila, with its Net Economic Optimism score improving by 19 points from the previous quarter to a mediocre -18 in February.

Net Economic Optimism improved by seven points in balance Luzon, to -14.

It worsened by 18 points in the Visayas, down to a very low -33, and by five points in Mindanao, to a mediocre -18.

It rose by 6 points in class D, to -18, and by five points in class ABC, to -17. It worsened by 15 points in class E, to a low –23.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages and plus or minus six percent for area percentages.  –Helen Flores, Philippine Star