Quality of life worsened for Filipinos? Not surprising but things are looking up – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is not surprised that Filipinos’ quality of life worsened in the past year, as shown in a recent Social Weather Station (SWS) survey.

In a statement Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque noted that things are looking better now as the government gradually reopened the economy following strict movement restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roque was reacting to the SWS survey, which showed that 62% of Filipinos believe that their quality of life got worse in the last twelve months.

“However, things are looking up,” Roque said. “The economy has reopened, which means more livelihood opportunities have become available.”

“This has been felt by our people as it is noteworthy to mention that the latest figure, 62% in November 2020, is a marked improvement from the 82% of Filipinos who had the same belief last September 2020,” he added. 

The Palace official said the economy’s gradual reopening would remain the government’s direction for next year.

“Ingat buhay para sa hanap-buhay will continue to be our direction in 2021 with the opening of more industries to revitalize our economy and stimulate growth for the betterment of the lives of our people next year and beyond,” Roque said. [ac]