MANILA, Philippines — Seven out of ten Filipinos disapproved of the government's response to rising costs of essential goods and services, according to a recent Pulse Asia survey.
Taming inflation remained the most urgent national concern, with 72% of Filipinos saying it is an issue that the Marcos administration must address immediately.
Related Stories
Public disapproval of how the Marcos government was reining in inflation jumped to 73% in December from 56% in September. Only 9% expressed approval of the administration's response to inflation, while 28% were undecided.
Inflation eased for the third straight month in December to 3.9%. However, for the entire 2023, inflation averaged 6%, exceeding the 5.8% logged in 2022.
"The only national urgent concern cited across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings is controlling inflation," Pulse Asia said in a poll released Monday.
The polling firm noted that inflation was a concern of the majority of Filipinos across all geographic areas and income brackets. It was cited by 75% each in Mindanao and Visayas, 71% in Luzon areas outside Metro Manila, and 69% in the capital region.
Following inflation as a top concern was the need to increase the pay of workers (40%). Creating more jobs (28%), reducing poverty (25%) were also significant concerns for many.
Filipinos were also concerned about other issues like combating corruption (19%), helping farmers (18%), addressing hunger (18%), fighting criminality (15%).
Meanwhile, they were least concerned about assisting small entrepreneurs (11%), enforcing the rule of law (10%), reducing the taxes paid by citizens (10%), promoting peace (9%), protecting the environment (7%), defending national territorial integrity (6%), dealing with terrorism (5%), and protecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) (5%).
Admin's performance
The Pulse Asia survey showed the Marcos administration enjoyed majority approval ratings on seven issues, with the highest on protecting the welfare of OFWs (78%).
It was followed by efforts to help calamity-stricken areas (76%), protect the environment (62%), promote peace (61%), defend national territorial integrity (61%), fight criminality (56%), and enforce the rule of law (51%).
The pollster added that 37% and 38% of Filipinos disapproved of the administration's initiatives to fight corruption and reduce poverty, respectively.
The poll was based on interviews with 1,200 Filipino adults, and had a ± 2.8% error margin at the 95% confidence level.