9 out of 10 Pinoys hopeful about 2011

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 12/16/2010

MANILA, Philippines - Majority of Filipinos are looking forward to a bright 2011, according to the October 2010 Ulat ng Bayan national survey conducted by Pulse Asia, Inc.

Almost nine out of 10 Filipinos or 89% are hopeful of what the future will bring. Those who are apprehensive about the coming year number less than one in ten, or 5%, while only 6% have no hope or apprehension about 2011.

"There is a perception that things will be better because we have a new administration," Dr. Ana Maria L. Tabunda, Pulse Asia's chief research fellow, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

President Benigno Aquino III and many of his Cabinet members have earned high approval ratings from the public for their vow to combat corruption, said Tabunda.

"It gives them hope. His campaign really linked graft and corruption to poverty. We are seeing this resonate," she said.

Same Christmas as last year

The nationwide survey, done using 1,200 representative adults last October 20-29, 2010, also revealed that half of the Filipinos (50%) expect Christmas 2010 to be the same as last year.

This is true of at least half of those sampled in Metro Manila (65%) and the rest of Luzon (54%), as well as the class D (50%) and the best-off class ABC (67%).

Thirty-nine percent (39%), on the other hand, see this year's Christmas as more prosperous, while the remaining 11% believe it will be a bleaker Christmas up ahead.

Majority of Visayans (55%) see Christmas 2010 as better than 2009's.

Mindanaoans and those belonging to Class E generally see Christmas this year as better than last year's (41% to 42%) or more or less the same (45% to 46%).

Based on this survey, Filipinos' optimism remains high in spite of major events this year, among them the August 2010 bus hostage taking crisis, debates on the reproductive health issues, ongoing trials of the Maguindanao massacre, and the Supreme Court's dismissal of a plagiarism case against one of its associate members.

Tabunda told AFP, though, that this optimism may go down if the economy does not improve, saying a president's approval ratings tended to go down as he or she continues his or her term. -- With report from Agence France-Presse