Poll: Inflation, corruption top concerns of Pinoys

Results of the Sept. 17 to 24 survey released yesterday found that 71 percent of the respondents considered inflation as among the three most urgent national concerns of the respondents.

STAR / File

MANILA, Philippines —   More than four years into the Marcos administration, reducing the basic cost of goods remains the most urgent concern of most Filipinos, based on a recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

Results of the Sept. 17 to 24 survey released yesterday found that 71 percent of the respondents considered inflation as among the three most urgent national concerns of the respondents.

It went up by 14 percentage points from 57 percent in a similar survey conducted in July.

Reacting to the survey results, Malacañang assured the nation efforts are being made to fight hunger.

“These interventions are continuously being undertaken by the government,” Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a media briefing.

“If some of our countrymen are not yet covered by the assistance of the government, we would want to know where they are  located so we can assess the situation, determine what is lacking and identity the assistance we can provide,” she added.

Based on the survey, controlling inflation was ranked first by 36 percent of the respondents, the largest proportion among issues included in the poll.

It was also the issue selected by most respondents across geographic areas and socio-economic classes.

Meanwhile, 39 percent of the respondents identified graft and corruption as among their top three concern. It went down from 43 percent in July.

Other top issues included in the survey were increasing the pay of workers (36 percent), fighting criminality (24 percent), reducing poverty (21 percent), creating more jobs (18 percent), fighting the widespread sale and use of illegal drugs (18 percent) and lowering the price of gasoline (14 percent).

Selected by less than 10 percent of the respondents were issues such as providing assistance to farmers, promoting peace, addressing hunger, equal enforcement of the law, reducing taxes, responding to needs of areas affected by calamities, stopping the destruction of the environment, providing support to small businesses, defending the integrity of Philippine territory, protecting overseas workers and preparing to face any kind of terrorism.

The survey had 2,400 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus two percent.