SWS: 95% of Pinoys enter 2012 with hope

MANILA, Philippines – Despite gloomy global economic forecasts and a string of natural calamities that hit the country this year, nine out of 10 Filipinos still face the New Year with hope, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The Fourth Quarter Social Weather Survey, conducted from Dec. 3 to 7, showed that 95 percent of Filipino adults said they would welcome 2012 with hope while only four percent would face the New Year with fear.

The new figure matches the all-time high of 95 percent recorded in 2002 who were hopeful of entering 2003, the SWS said.

It is also two points higher than the 93 percent who entered 2011 with hope.

SWS said hope in the coming year has customarily been at high levels, starting at 87 percent when SWS first polled about the issue in December 2000 and 88 percent in December 2001.

New Year hope reached its record high 95 percent in December 2002 and 90 percent in December 2003 before it declined to 81 percent in December 2004 and 85 percent in December 2005.

It rebounded and remained steady at 91 percent to 92 percent from 2006 to 2008 before it declined to 89 percent in 2009.

It recovered to 93 percent in December 2010 and again reached record-high 95 percent in December 2011.

Hope in the coming year is widespread in all areas, with record highs in Mindanao and Metro Manila, SWS said.

Compared to 2010, New Year hope increased by five points in Mindanao, from 89 percent to 94 percent, a record-high for that area that was first reached in 2002.

It stayed at record-high 96 percent in Metro Manila.

It hardly changed in the Visayas, from a record-high 97 percent in 2010 to 96 percent in 2011, and in balance Luzon, from 94 percent to 95 percent.

New Year hope is also high in all socio-economic classes, with a new record-high set among class E.

Compared to 2010, New Year hope rose by four points among the very poor class E, from 89 percent to a new record-high 93 percent. This surpassed the previous record-high of 91 percent in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007.

New Year hope stayed at record high 97 percent among the middle to upper classes ABC.

It hardly changed among the masses class D, from 95 percent to 96 percent.

New Year hope is higher among those who expected a happy 2011 Christmas than among those who expected a sad Christmas.

Of the 64 percent who were looking forward to a happy 2011 Christmas, almost all (97 percent) also look forward to 2012 with hope.

On the other hand, of the 11 percent expecting a sad Christmas, 89 percent are hopeful of 2012.

The survey question was patterned after polls conducted annually by the Allensbach Institute of Demoskopy in Germany, the SWS said.

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

Sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus six points for area percentages. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)