Pinoys see better life in next 12 months

MANILA, Philippines - More adult Filipinos remain optimistic that their lives will improve in the next 12 months, a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed yesterday.

The Second Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey, conducted from June 19 to 22, found 29 percent of adults expecting their lives to improve in the next 12 months and 12 percent expecting worse in the same period.

“Compared to February, optimists declined by three points in June, but this was offset by a seven-point decline in pessimists. Thus, Net Optimism – the number of optimists minus pessimists – slightly improved from +14 to +17,” the SWS said.

SWS said Net Optimism has been at double-digit positives for the past three quarters, ranging from +14 to +17 from a mediocre range of –6 to +9 between March and September last year.

The non-commissioned survey also found 43 percent of respondents convinced that their lives had worsened, down four points from February 2009.

Those saying their lives had improved rose by one point to 20 percent, the survey firm said.

The latest survey also showed that optimism rose in all areas including Metro Manila but not in the rest of Luzon, and has the sharpest one-quarter rise among class E respondents.

Compared to the previous quarter, net optimism in the Visayas improved by 15 points to +11 in June 2009, eight points in Metro Manila to +22, and six points in Mindanao to +17.

It fell by four points in balance Luzon, to +19.

It rose by eight points in class E to +13, and by three points in class D to +19. It slightly moved down in class ABC from +15 to +14.

SWS said cases of losers exceeding gainers eased in most areas and in all classes, but widened in Mindanao.

It said gainers-losers gap eased 25 points in the Visayas to settle at –24, five points in balance Luzon to –18, and by two points in Metro Manila to –31 in June compared to the previous quarter.

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in the balance of Luzon.