Inflation is the No. 1 concern that Filipinos want President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s government to address, results of a Pulse Asia survey showed.
Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” survey conducted from June 24 to 27 with 1,200 respondents found that the most urgent national concern for 57 percent of Filipinos was controlling inflation.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported an inflation rate of 6.1 percent for June 2022, the highest since October 2018, as the country continued to see numerous spikes in food and energy prices amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Increasing the pay of workers was the No. 2 issue Filipinos want addressed with 45 percent, followed by reducing poverty (33 percent) and creating more jobs (29 percent).
Ridding the government of graft and corruption was No. 4 with 20 percent, while enforcing the law on all people, whether influential or ordinary, was fifth with 15 percent.
Fighting criminality, promoting peace in the country and providing assistance or subsidies to those who lost their livelihood and jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic were deemed urgent by 14 percent of the respondents.
Other issues that Filipinos want urgently addressed were addressing the problem of involuntary hunger (12 percent), reducing taxes (9 percent), stopping environment abuse and destruction (7 percent), aiding support to small businesses (7 percent), defending Philippine territory (7 percent), controlling Covid-19 (7 percent), protecting OFW welfare (5 percent) and preparing to face terrorism (3 percent). John Ezekiel J. Hirro