80% Filipinos believe ‘life worsened in past 12 months’

MANILA: Close to 8 in 10 Filipinos believed that their qualify of life has worsened in the past 12 months compared to last year which they blamed on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to ravage the world, based on findings of the latest survey by a private pollster.

Social Weather Stations ( SWS) reported 79 per cent said life worsened (losers) while eight percent maintained it got beter (gainers) and 12 per cent said it remained unchanged in the nationwide survey conducted from July 4 to 6.

The survey, SWS said, used mobile phone and computer assisted telephone interviews with 1,555 adult Filipinos aged 18 and above in Metro Manila, the rest of the main island of Luzon as well as the Visayas and Mindanao.

Significantly, the quality of life was deemed “catastrophic” or a score of minus 50 and below across the the country, SWS said, noting it was lowest in the Visayas with a net score of minus 75, followed by the balance of Luzon at minus 74, Metro Manila at minus 71 and Mindanao, minus 65.

On Friday, the Department of Health reported that the total number of virus infections nationwide soared to 153,660 from confirmed new cases of 6,216 with the death toll at 2,442 and recoveries of 71,405.

But Malacanang Palace through Secretary Harry Roque, the presidential spokesman, said that although the findings were a “cause of concern,” the government was determined to lighten the economic impact of the virus and help Filipinos “recover gradually.”

Roque echoed the statements of the country’s economic managers that before COVID-19, the Philippines was among the fastest growing economies in the region with low and stable inflation and lowest rates ever of unemployment, underemployment and poverty.

“The coronavirus has , indeed, adversely affected our economy and people’s livelihood and business,” Roque admited.

In June, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the country experienced a recordhigh unemployment rate of 17.7 percent or about 7.3 million Filipinos by April.