Results of a nationwide poll that found 48 percent of Filipinos rating themselves as poor were saddening, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
In the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, results of were released on Monday, 48 percent of Filipino families considered themselves as “poor,” 36 percent considered themselves “borderline poor” 16 percent said they were “not poor.”
“Nakakalungkot po talaga iyan at iyan ay epekto nang pagpatuloy na lockdown natin at quarantine dahil nga po sa pandemya,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a media briefing.
Additionally, the SWS found that 31 percent of families rated themselves as “food-poor” and 47 percent “borderline food-poor.”
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews from Nov. 21 to 25.
Roque cited the government’s efforts to purchase Covid-19 vaccines, which are to be distributed free of charge to poor individuals, as he said only the vaccines could solve the Covid-19 problem.
“Ang Christmas gift na lang po na maibibigay natin sa lahat ay iyong pag-asa na matatapos na nga po itong pandemyang ito dahil nandiyan na ang bakuna,” he added.
Earlier SWS surveys found that 82 percent of Filipinos experienced their lives worsen in 2020 and that the number of hungry Filipinos had soared to a record-high 30.7 percent amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country’s Covid-19 case count stands at 451,839 as of Dec. 15. John Ezekiel J. Hirro