Survey: Health a major concern of most Pinoys

ANTICANCER Health workers in Narvacan town in Ilocos Sur province give a pupil vaccine to protect her from the human papilloma virus. LEONCIO BALBIN JR./Contributor

Health was deemed the most urgent personal concern of majority of Filipinos at the end 2016 but concern about being a victim of crime rose despite the anti-crime stance of the Duterte administration, results of a Pulse Asia survey showed.

Increasing wages topped the list when it comes to national concerns that should receive immediate attention from the government, the survey, conducted last Dec. 6- 11, found.

The Pulse Asia report, released yesterday, also said most Filipinos approved of the Duterte administration’s work in addressing all urgent national concerns included in the survey, except for one—controlling inflation, which was regarded a priority by a third of the respondents.

For the personal and national concerns survey, Pulse Asia asked 1,200 respondents, who are voters aged 18 and above, to cite up to three urgent concerns from lists provided. They were also allowed to mention other concerns not included in the lists. The survey used a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Staying healthy and avoiding illnesses was cited an urgent personal concern by 63 percent while 44 percent said having a secure and well-paying job or source of income, 41 percent said finishing school or providing schooling for children and another 41 percent said having enough to eat on a daily basis.

Other urgent personal concerns included avoiding being a crime victim (38 percent), having some savings (38 percent) and having a house and lot (34 percent).

The levels of concern on these personal issues were mostly unchanged except for the concern about schooling, which declined seven points from 48 percent in 2015 to 41 percent in 2016 and the concern on being a victim of crime which increased eight points from 30 percent to 38 percent.

Majorities across geographic areas (54 to 68 percent) and socioeconomic classes (58 to 67 percent) considered staying healthy an urgent personal concern.

With regard to national issues, the most urgent concern was increasing workers’ pay (45 percent) while 31 to 34 percent cited controlling inflation, reducing poverty, criminality, creating more jobs and fighting corruption in government.

Other urgent concerns, cited by 6 to 23 percent were peace in the country, rule of law, reducing taxes, environmental degradation, protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers and rapid population growth and territorial integrity. The respondents were least concerned about changing the Constitution (4 percent) and terrorism (4 percent).

Those in Metro Manila were most concerned about workers’ pay, jobs, inflation and corruption (34 to 44 percent) while the top concerns of those in Luzon outside Metro Manila were workers’ pay, criminality and poverty (33 to 45 percent).

In Visayas, the national concerns were workers’ pay, fighting criminality and poverty reduction (35 to 45 percent) while in Mindanao, the top concerns were workers’ pay, inflation, jobs, poverty and corruption in government (33 to 44 percent). —ANA ROA, INQUIRER RESEARCH