According to the Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) National Mobile Phone Survey, 40 percent of Filipino adults expect the economy to worsen—the highest since the 52 percent record in June 2008. While there are “economic pessimists” ( per SWS), 24 percent believe that the economy will stay the same while 30 percent expect it to improve (the lowest since 27 percent in March 2015).
Net economic optimism, which refers to the general expectation in the Philippine economy, dropped by 47 points from a “very high” +38 in December 2019 to a “mediocre” -9 in July 2020. The lowest net economic optimism score was recorded in February 2009 with a “low” -19.
This dip in economic optimism is attributed to point decreases in Visayas, Mindanao, Metro Manila and balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside Metro Manila) by 63, 51, 42 and 40, respectively.
What does this say about the state of the nation amid a pandemic? How does this reflect the government’s response to the crisis? Are Filipinos getting the help they deserve?
The survey was conducted among 1,555 Filipinos, aged 18 years old and above nationwide: 451 in balance Luzon, 410 in Mindanao, 388 in Visayas and 306 in the National Capital Region. This was done using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviews.
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