Filipinos hopeful of 2007 - survey

PERHAPS with the bright prospects that the economy has shown during the last quarter, some 9 out of 10 Filipinos (or 90%) are stepping into the threshold of 2007 with hopes packed tight. This comes out in a Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey run within the quarter. The survey also runs smack into another equally revealing truth that Filipinos are hopeful despite having experienced hunger at least once or a few times during the last three months. Moreover, 92 percent of Filipinos who did not go hungry in the last three months were hopeful entering the New Year, while 78 percent of those who suffered "severe hunger" or those experiencing hunger often or always admitted they were entering 2007 with hope.

The final 2006 Social Weather Survey also found that 91 percent of adult Filipinos nationwide were hopeful rather than fearful about the coming year. Hope for the New Year increased from 85 percent in the last quarter of 2005. High hopes for 2007 are shared across all areas and socio-economic classes. Hopefulness is up in all socio-economic classes compared to 2005, as New Year hope increased by 19 percentage points among members of class ABC -- from 73 percent in 2005 to 92 percent this year. Among class D, it also went up from 87 percent to 91 percent, while among class E, it increased from 83 percent to 91 percent. New Year hope also increased in all areas compared to the previous year, except in Metro Manila, where it stayed at 87 percent. Elsewhere, it increased from 83 percent to 92 percent in the rest of Luzon , from 88 percent to 93 percent in Visayas and from 84 percent to 90 percent in Mindana .

SWS has been doing its "New Year hope" survey during the fourth quarter of the year since 2000. In the seven annual surveys, hope ranged between 81 percent (2004) and 95 percent (2002). This year's survey was implemented from November 24 to 29 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon , Visayas and Mindanao . It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. As this came out, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the optimism could be founded on a strong social payback in terms of investments, jobs, infrastructure and essential services that are lifting more families out of abject poverty.

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