Pulse Asia's March 2008 Ulat ng Bayan Survey: Media Release on the State of the National Economy and Filipinos' Quality of Life

Pulse Asia is pleased to share with you some findings from the March 2008 Ulat ng Bayan national survey on the State of the National Economy and Filipinos’ Quality of Life. We request you to assist us in informing the public by disseminating this information on Filipino perceptions, opinions, sentiments, and attitudes relating to current developments here and abroad.

Based on a multistage probability sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above, Pulse Asia’s nationwide survey has a +/- 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a +/- 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level. Face-to-face field interviews for this project were conducted from February 21 to March 8, 2008. (Those interested in further technical details concerning the surveys’ questionnaires and sampling design may request Pulse Asia in writing for fuller details, including copies of the pre-tested questions actually used.)

While this survey was being conducted, among the developments which dominated news headlines were those concerning the continuing Senate investigation into the ZTE-NBN issue, the various protest actions calling for the President to step down from office, the divided stance of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the issue of presidential resignation, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s admission that she knew of problems surrounding the ZTE-NBN deal prior to the signing of the supply contract, the 22nd commemoration of EDSA People Power I, the Senate testimony of another witness linking the First Couple to the ZTE-NBN controversy, the big anti-Arroyo rally in Makati last 29 February 2008, the "truth" campus tour of Engr. Rodolfo Lozada, Jr. in Metro Manila, the Senate's rejection of the Supreme Court's compromise proposal regarding former NEDA Chairperson Romulo Neri's petition on executive privilege, the scrapping of Executive Order No. 464, the controversial joint exploration deal between the Philippines and China in the Spratlys and the continuing increase in the prices of oil and other basic goods.

The survey’s sampling design and questionnaire are the full responsibility of Pulse Asia’s pool of academic experts and no religious, political, economic or any other form of partisanship has been allowed to influence the survey design, the findings generated by the actual surveys or the subsequent analyses of survey findings.

Pulse Asia undertakes Ulat ng Bayan surveys on its own without any party singularly commissioning the research effort.

Most Filipinos (66%) feel the national economy is in a worse state now than it was in 2005

Two out of every three Filipinos (66%) are of the opinion that the state of the Philippine economy has worsened in the last three years – a sentiment shared by considerable to big majorities (61% to 74%) across all of the country’s geographic areas and socio-economic classes. In contrast, only 11% of Filipinos believe that the present economic situation is better now than in 2005 while about a quarter (23%) says there has been no change – positive or negative – in the state of the country’s economy between 2005 and today. These views are articulated by nearly the same percentages of respondents across geographic and socio-economic sub-groupings (See Table 1).

Among the majority saying the national economy has deteriorated in the past three years, 75% say that they strongly felt this deterioration in their own lives. This is expressed by big majorities across geographic areas and socio-economic classes – from 70% in Mindanao to 85% in the Visayas. On the other hand, only 4% say this deterioration in the national economy did not have any impact on their personal situation while 22% felt that the worsening of the country’s economy had some effect on their own lives (See Table 1).

In the case of those who believe the Philippine economy improved between 2005 and the present, a small majority (56%) says that they somewhat felt this improvement in their own lives – a sentiment shared by considerable majorities (60% to 66%) across almost all geographic areas (Mindanao being the exception) and those in the most numerous Class D (66%). In contrast, almost the same percentages say either that they did not feel or they strongly felt (24% versus 20%) the effect of this economic growth on their personal situation. A big plurality (43%) of those in Mindanao reports having strongly felt the improvement in the national economy while public opinion among respondents belonging to the best-off Class ABC and the poorest Class E is essentially divided (See Table 1).

Majority of Filipinos consider themselves to be very poor/poor (71%), believe their personal situation has worsened in the last 12 months (59%) and are of the opinion that the national quality of life (QOL) is worse now than it was last year (71%)

Difficult times continue for most Filipinos with a big majority of them – 71% or about 12.8 million households – saying they are very poor/poor. This figure is nearly the same as those recorded in July and October 2007 (75% and 68%, respectively). On the other hand, almost the same percentages of Filipinos consider themselves to be either well-off/wealthy or on-the-line (15% versus 14%) (Table 2).

When asked to assess their present personal QOL relative to last year, nearly six in ten Filipinos (59%) say they are worse off now than in 2007 – a sentiment expressed by near to considerable majorities across geographic areas and socio-economic classes (48% to 68%). In contrast, only 10% consider themselves to be gainers (i.e., better off now than last year) while 31% say there has been no deterioration or improvement in their personal situation in the last 12 months. Between October 2007 and March 2008, Filipinos’ sense of deterioration in their personal lives becomes more pronounced (+13 percentage points). This observation also holds true across most geographic areas and socio-economic groupings (+15 to + 19 percentage points) except in the Visayas and Class E where figures are essentially unchanged (See Table 3).

With respect to the national QOL, 71% believe most of their countrymen are worse off now than last year – 10 percentage points higher than the October 2007 figure. Across geographic and socio-economic sub-groupings, considerable to big majorities – from 65% in the rest of Luzon to 81% in Mindanao – share this view. On the other hand, less than one in ten Filipinos (6%) thinks the national QOL has improved since last year while about a quarter (23%) is of the opinion that the situation of most Filipinos has remained the same over the past 12 months. Relative to October 2007, more of those in the rest of Luzon, Mindanao, and Classes ABC and D now believe that the national QOL has deteriorated over the past year (+8 to +16 percentage points) (Table 4).