‘… private statisticians and survey firms might help and if our officials are sincere in public service, they will welcome all assistance to arrive at the best public policy involving our lives.’
RATING one’s financial and economic status in an open survey might be a good gauge of the people’s real day-to-day situation. We note that this is the formal Social Weather Stations (SWS) comprehensive survey covering the periods from March 2019 to June 2022, although the COVID-19 pandemic limited the poll to only one — in November, 2020 — because of the health risks involved in personal interviews.
The survey showed that Filipinos who consider themselves poor are highest in December 2019 (54 percent), May 2021 (49 percent), and June 2021 and 2022 (48 percent). In other months, the numbers hovered from the pre-pandemic 38 to the pre-elections 43 last April.
The polling firm reported what these numbers mean: that around 12.2 million Filipino families felt “poor” in the second quarter of the year. This figure, according to the SWS, points to an increase from the 10.9 million Filipino families who felt “poor” during the first quarter of the year. In a sampling conducted from June 26 to 29, it was found that 48 percent of families felt “poor,” while 31 percent categorized themselves as “borderline poor.”
A total of 21 percent, on the other hand, considered themselves “not poor.” The said survey was done through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults aged 18 and above sampled nationwide.
Meanwhile, families who categorized themselves as “not poor” increased in Metro Manila from 26 percent to 37 percent, and in Visayas from 6 percent to 10 percent. In Mindanao, however, it remained at 7 percent, while it fell in Balance Luzon from 37 percent to 28 percent.
The sampling margins of error of the survey were ±2.5% for the national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4.0% for Balance Luzon.
Private survey firms such as SWS once again proved their utility in indirectly advising the government on the real economic situation, particularly its campaign to fight poverty. Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles can only parrot Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s objective of pruning the poverty rate to 9 percent in 2028, but was unable to provide any details as to how the Marcos government may get to even be close to achieving this target.
Well, private statisticians and survey firms might help and if our officials are sincere in public service, they will welcome all assistance to arrive at the best public policy involving our lives.
