Higher pay, prices, jobs are top Pinoy concerns

Economic issues such as higher pay, inflation and job creation were the Filipinos’ most urgent national concerns in March, results of a Pulse Asia survey showed.

Higher pay for workers remained the most urgent national concern of 43 percent of respondents, down by 2 percentage points from December 2016.

The next two economic concerns deemed urgent had the highest percentage increases with controlling inflation or price increases, up by 7 percentage points to 41 percent (from 34 percent), and creating more jobs, up by 8 percentage points to 39 percent (from 31 percent).

The survey, conducted from Mar. 15 to 20, asked 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above using face-to-face interviews.

Majority (30 percent to 52 percent) across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes higher pay for workers as the considered most urgent concern.

Other urgent concerns were fighting graft and corruption (still at 31 percent), fighting criminality (28 percent from 33 percent), reducing poverty (27 percent from 33 percent) increasing peace in the country (18 percent from 23 percent), enforcing the law (16 percent from 17 percent), environmental degradation (15 percent from 11 percent) and rapid population growth (11 percent from 8 percent.)

Also cited as concerns were reducing taxes (11 percent from 12 percent), protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (8 percent from 10 percent), territorial integrity (remained at 6 percent), terrorism as well as changing the Constitution (both at 3 percent from 4 percent).

The Duterte administration obtained major approval scores on national issues, except for reducing poverty (50 percent) and controlling inflation (45 percent), which was the second most urgent concern of Filipinos in the survey.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents expressed highest approval of administration efforts to fight criminality (from 84 percent).

Pulse Asia noted that there had no significant movements in the administration’s performance ratings between December 2016 and March 2017, except for the decline in the approval rating for its efforts to defend territorial integrity which was down by 8 percentage points to 57 percent (from 65 percent).—INQUIRER RESEARCH