Survey shows big problem ahead for all

We have not seen our nation so downhearted as in the findings of Social Weather Stations (SWS) in its survey of May 4-10 on how Filipinos view their lives in the country today. The survey, with 4,010 working-age Filipinos in the sample, yielded the following results: 83 percent said the quality of their lives had gotten worse in the last 12 months, 10 percent said it was unchanged, and 6 percent said their lives had become better.

The 83 percent is the highest percentage of disappointed, disheartened, and discouraged Filipinos in a national survey. The previous record was 62 percent in June, 2008, a time when there was a global economic crisis.

The highly negative assessment this May was nationwide. It was highest in the Visayas, with 87 percent; followed by Mindanao, 86 percent; the rest of Luzon, 86 percent; and Metro Manila, 82 percent.

The highest score of disappointment was among non-elementary school graduates, 89 percent; elementary school graduates, 87 percent; high school graduates, 84 percent; and college graduates, 75 percent.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque commented that the survey results were to be expected, considering that it was conducted in the midst of one of the worst times ever in the lives of Filipinos – the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

So many Filipinos lost their jobs, were unable to find any other work. So many students were not able to attend graduation ceremonies; and many may not be able to go on to school in the coming school year. So many businesses, factories, restaurants, market stalls, and offices had to close down because of the government’s lockdown restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To this day, there is no assurance when people can go back to work as before, buy things in public markets and supermarkets, eat in hotels, restaurants, and other public places, go to church for Masses or even just to pray in the quiet surroundings. They have had to stay at home for three whole months now, and still with no certainty as to when the restrictions will end. All because of a virus that continues to kill thousands around the world.

The SWS survey findings were indeed unusually negative – more than eight out of 10 Filipinos saying their lives had worsened. But it was not so much the year since May, 2019, as the last three months since last March that was on the minds of the respondents when they said their lives today are so much worse.

The government truly is not to blame for this record fall in our people’s assessment of their lives, but it presents a big problem in the coming months and years for all of us. It is in that light that the government should see the SWS results – as a challenge that must now be met with the most assiduous planning and the most dedicated efforts to achieve a goal that will take many years to accomplish.