Pulse Asia: Most Filipinos facing 2024 with hope

Even with all the difficulties Filipinos encounter every day, majority of them—92 percent—remain optimistic, saying they will face the new year with hope, a Pulse Asia survey showed.

“This is the prevailing sentiment in every geographic area and socioeconomic grouping (84 percent to 95 percent and 90 percent to 92 percent, respectively),” Pulse Asia said in its report released on Friday, Dec. 22.

The survey, which was fielded through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents, was conducted nationwide from Dec. 3 to 7.

“Only 1 percent will face 2024 without hope, while 7 percent are ambivalent on the matter. These figures do not differ significantly from those recorded by Pulse Asia Research in November 2022,” it said.

Christmas expectation

The survey also found that 41 percent of Filipinos expect this year’s holiday celebrations to be just as prosperous as last year.

“This sentiment is echoed by sizable pluralities to small majorities in Metro Manila (62 percent), the rest of Luzon (48 percent), Class D (41 percent), and Class E (34 percent),” Pulse Asia said.

“In the Visayas and Class ABC, nearly the same percentages expect this year’s holiday celebration to be either more prosperous or as prosperous as the one they experienced in December 2022 (30 percent to 42 percent versus 34 percent to 47 percent),” it added.

Meanwhile, in Mindanao, there is a four-way split, with 31 percent expecting a more prosperous celebration this year, 30 percent expecting the opposite, 20 percent expecting their celebration to be as prosperous as last year, and another 20 percent expecting the same as last year, which was not prosperous.

“The percentages of those expecting their upcoming holiday celebration to be either the same as last year that was not prosperous or less prosperous than a year ago increase during this period [November 2022 to December 2023] (+6 and +7 percentage points, respectively),” Pulse Asia said.

“Similarly, the percentage of Mindanawons saying this year’s holiday celebration will be the same as last year that was not prosperous goes up (+16 percentage points) while the percentage of those expecting a less prosperous celebration this year rise in the Visayas (+16 percentage points), Mindanao (+28 percentage points), and Class E (+19 percentage points),” it added.

However, it pointed out that there is a decline in the percentage of Filipino adults who anticipate this year’s holiday celebrations to be more prosperous than the one they had a year ago (-13 percentage points).

“The same movement takes place in Metro Manila (-14 percentage points), the Visayas (-24 percentage points), Mindanao (-15 percentage points), Class D (-12 percentage points), and Class E (-19 percentage points),” Pulse Asia said.

“Aside from these changes, the only other significant change between November 2022 and December 2023 is the drop in the percentage of Mindanawons expecting their holiday celebration this year to be as prosperous as last year (-28 percentage points),” it said.