SWS: 90% upbeat on full recovery

BEFORE Motorcycles try to navigate Real Street in Tacloban amid debris and garbage left by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” a year ago today. The same street as above photo as it looked amid the ruins. ANDREW TADALAN

MANILA, Philippines—Nine out of 10 Filipinos are hopeful that the communities ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) last year can fully recover, according to the latest survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The Third Quarter 2014 Social Weather Report, conducted from Sept. 26 to 29, found that 93 percent of Filipinos remain hopeful about the recovery of the ravaged provinces, similar to the 95 percent posted in the December 2013 survey.

The respondents were asked: “Are you very hopeful, somewhat hopeful, somewhat not hopeful, or not hopeful at all that the areas that were damaged by Typhoon Yolanda can fully recover from the tragedy they experienced?”

The September survey found that 60 percent of respondents remained “very hopeful” and 33 percent are “somewhat hopeful” that the damaged communities can fully recover.

Visayas most hopeful

The survey also found that the Visayas were the most hopeful about the recovery. The percentages of those very hopeful in the Visayas rose to 74 percent “very hopeful” compared with 69 percent “very hopeful” last December.

But the number of “very hopeful” declined in all other areas. It fell to 57 percent from 64 percent in Metro Manila, to 54 percent from 67 percent in Balance of Luzon, and to 62 percent from 72 percent in Mindanao.

Among the Yolanda victims, 62 percent are “very hopeful,” 28 percent are “somewhat hopeful,” while

6 percent are “somewhat not hopeful,” and 4 percent are “not hopeful at all.”

How long?

Among the nonvictims, 60 percent are “very hopeful,” 33 percent are “somewhat hopeful,” while 6 percent are “somewhat not hopeful,” and 1 percent are “not hopeful at all.”

The survey also asked respondents: “In your opinion, how long will it take before the areas damaged by Typhoon Yolanda can fully recover, (1-2 years after the typhoon, 3-4 years after the typhoon, 5-6 years after the typhoon, 7 years or more after the typhoon)?”

Majority of the respondents (58 percent) said they could see full recovery for the damaged areas within four years.

The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. Inquirer Research