Filipino’s positive perception on the current direction of the country, including national economic and household financial prospects, remained high even as it slightly declined this year, according to a survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia.
“There is a steady gradual decline in positive outlook of our country’s current direction and household financial prospects as uncertainty slightly grows,” PUBLiCUS Asia said based on the results of its PAHAYAG 2023 first-quarter survey conducted among 1,500 respondents from March 2 to 6, 2023.
Results of the survey showed that 50 percent of the respondents believe the current state of the country is strong, similar to the results of the fourth-quarter survey, but down from 57 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
“The strong perception of current state is pulled up by 25 to 29 [years old], private and government workers, while the 18 to 24s, low-income and non-working pulled it down. Positive outlook of where the country is heading and future prospects are still shared by the bigger majority of Filipinos across segments,” PUBLiCUS Asia said.
Sixty-seven percent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, compared to 68 percent in the fourth quarter and 72 percent a year earlier.
About 68 percent of the respondents believe that economic prospects heading to the next quarter will improve, down from 70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 70 percent a year ago.
Sixty-nine percent believe that household financial prospects heading into the next quarter will improve, down from 71 percent in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the top macro-economic and micro issues remained the same for the Marcos administration, which are to focus on the economy (18 percent), prices/inflation (16 percent), corruption (13 percent), poverty (11 percent) and jobs (10 percent). (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
The topmost anxieties experienced looking toward the next quarter are household concerns including not being able to afford one’s basic needs (13 percent), losing a job (13 percent) or having difficulty finding one (12 percent) and not being able to buy basic commodities due to prices (12 percent).
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s approval rating dropped to 60 percent in the first quarter from 64 percent in the fourth quarter and 62 percent in the third quarter.
“There is a significant drop is in PBBM’s approval rating among 30-39s, low income and Catholics. VP Sara, on the other hand, gains among 50-59s while the rest is stable,” it said.
Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s approval rating was at 67 percent in the first quarter, down from 68 percent in the fourth quarter, but up from 66 percent in the third quarter.
The approval of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri was at 47 percent in the first quarter of 2023 while that of House Speaker Ferdinand Romualdez was at 42 percent. Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo achieved an approval rating of 39 percent.
“There were no significant drops in approval rating from Quarter 4 last year, but there is a notable increase in impartiality for the Senate President, House Speaker and the Chief Justice,” it said.
TESDA remained the topmost approved government agency followed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Tourism, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo achieved a performance rating of 74 percent, followed by Duterte-Carpio (68 percent) and President Marcos (63 percent).
Six in 10 Filipinos approve of Mr. Marcos’ cabinet, with second-in-command Duterte-Carpio deemed as the top and best cabinet member.