Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 28) — A national survey released four days ahead of the New Year found that the majority, or 96% of adult Filipinos, will be welcoming 2024 with hope rather than fear, the highest percentage since pre-pandemic 2019.
“This is a point above the 95% in 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic 96% in 2019,” the Social Weather Survey (SWS) said in its Thursday report.
According to the SWS, its survey with a primary question of ‘Ang darating na taon ba ay inyong sasalubungin nang may pag-asa o may pangamba?’ was conducted from Dec. 8 to 11 via face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide.
[Translation: Is it with hope or with fear that you enter the coming year?]
The findings also showed that only 3% of Filipinos would enter 2024 with fear.
Additionally, 73% of Filipinos expected to have a happy Christmas, the same figure in 2022, the SWS noted.
“The percentage of those who are entering the New Year with hope rather than fear is higher among those who expected a happy Christmas (98%) and those who expected neither a happy nor sad Christmas (95%) than those who expected a sad Christmas (84%),” it said.
The percentage of hopefuls in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose from 93% in 2022 to 97% this year, Mindanao also rose from 93% last year to 96% now.
On the other hand, Balance Luzon retained its percentage at 97%, while the Visayas dropped from 95% in 2022 to 93% this year.
The SWS also showed a rise in the New Year hope percentage among adults who attended school.
“Compared to the end of 2022, New Year hope rose slightly across educational levels: from 92% to 93% among non-elementary graduates, from 95% to 97% among elementary graduates, from 95% to 96% among junior high school graduates, and from 96% to 98% among college graduates,” it said.
The non-commissioned survey said 52% of the respondents were from urban areas while the remaining 48% were from rural areas. Thirteen percent of the respondents were from Metro Manila, 45% from Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), 19% from the Visayas, and 23% from Mindanao.
The survey’s sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, SWS said.
