MANILA, Philippines - Almost all Filipinos face the coming year with hope rather than fear, according to a recent Pulse Asia survey.
The nationwide poll, conducted from Nov. 23 to 29, found 92 percent of Filipinos saying they will welcome the year 2013 with hope, a view articulated by nearly all respondents across geographic areas (90 to 96 percent) and socio-economic classes (89 to 96 percent).
Only three percent say they will face the year ahead with apprehension, while four percent will face the coming year without hope.
“These figures are essentially consistent with those recorded in November 2011,” according to Pulse Asia’s November 2012 Ulat ng Bayan Survey.
Meanwhile, the same survey showed a little over half of Filipino adults or 56 percent say their families’ celebration of the coming Christmas season will be the same as last year.
This is the majority sentiment in every socio-economic class (51 to 58 percent) and virtually all geographic areas (52 to 62 percent).
Almost the same percentage of respondents in the Visayas say that this Christmas season will be either more prosperous than or the same as last year’s (41 versus 47 percent).
On the other hand, 34 percent of Filipinos expect a most prosperous Christmas season, while 10 percent say this coming Christmas will see them poorer than last year.
There are no significant differences between the November 2011 and 2012 figures, the survey showed.
The nationwide survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years and older.
It used sampling error margin of plus or minus three percentage points at 95 percent confidence level.