Filipinos Express Discontent with Government’s Inflation Management

A recent Pulse Asia survey has revealed a significant level of dissatisfaction among Filipinos regarding the government’s handling of inflation. According to the survey, seven out of ten Filipinos disapprove of the government’s strategy to manage the rising costs of essential goods and services. This public discontent has notably increased, with disapproval jumping to 73% in December, a significant rise from 56% in September.

Despite the government reporting a slight decrease in inflation to 3.9% in December, the average inflation rate for the entire year of 2023 was recorded at 6%, surpassing the previous year’s 5.8%. The survey highlighted that the primary concern across all regions and socio-economic groups in the Philippines is controlling inflation, reflecting widespread apprehension about the rising cost of living.

Apart from inflation, the survey identified other major concerns for Filipinos. These include the need to increase workers’ pay (40%), creating more jobs (28%), and reducing poverty (25%). Additional issues of importance to the public include combating corruption (19%), supporting farmers (18%), addressing hunger (18%), and fighting criminality (15%). On the other end of the spectrum, concerns such as assisting small entrepreneurs, enforcing the rule of law, reducing taxes, promoting peace, protecting the environment, defending national territorial integrity, dealing with terrorism, and protecting overseas Filipino workers received comparatively less attention.

Interestingly, the Pulse Asia survey also showed that the current administration received majority approval ratings on several issues, despite the criticism on inflation. Notable areas of approval include protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (78%), assisting calamity-hit areas (76%), environmental protection (62%), peace promotion (61%), defending national territorial integrity (61%), combating criminality (56%), and enforcing the rule of law (51%). However, a significant portion of Filipinos still disapprove of the administration’s efforts in fighting corruption (37%) and reducing poverty (38%).

This survey provides a comprehensive overview of the public sentiment in the Philippines, particularly highlighting the pressing concern of inflation and the need for effective government strategies to address it.