Around eight in 10 Filipinos believed the country was moving in the right direction under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., according to OCTA Research’s first quarter survey released on Saturday.
Conducted from March 24 to 28, the non-commissioned poll found that 76% of 1,200 adult Filipinos believed that the country was headed in the right direction based on the policies and programs articulated and implemented by the current administration.
Ten percent of the respondents believed otherwise, and 13% were undecided.
“While 8 out of 10 adult Filipinos (76%) think that the country is headed in the right direction, this result represents a notable decline of 9 percentage points when compared to the TNM (Tugon ng Masa) Q4 October 2022 survey conducted last quarter, where 85% said that the country was headed in the right direction,” OCTA said in its report.
“The decline in the overall percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the right direction from last quarter was due to the consistent decreases across major areas and socioeconomic classes,” it added.
Across major areas, the percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the right direction has dropped by 4 to 11 percentage points since October 2022.
Across socio-economic classes, decreases range from 8 to 14 percentage points, with the highest coming from Class ABC (14 percentage points).
For the first quarter of 2023, the Visayas has the highest percentage (87%) of adult Filipinos who believe the country is headed in the right direction, followed by Balance Luzon (77%), Mindanao (75%), and the National Capital Region (59%).
The NCR also has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who think that the country is headed in the wrong direction, with 19%, followed by Mindanao with 15%.
Across socio-economic classes, Class D has the highest percentage (78%) of adult Filipinos who think the country is headed in the right direction. It was followed by Class E (73%).
“Interestingly, adult Filipinos belonging to Class ABC (20%) have more respondents that are ambivalent about the trajectory of the country’s direction compared to any other socio-economic class,” OCTA said.
“The positive perception about the direction of the country is also shared by the majority of Filipinos across different age groups, with the highest at the 75 years old and above age group at 87%, followed by the 55-64 age group at 82%,” it added.
It said the perception that the country was headed in the right direction was higher among adult Filipinos living in rural areas (80%) than those in urban areas (71%).
Males are also more confident of the country’s direction, with 80% of them saying so, compared to 72% of women saying that they are confident of the country’s future.
Respondents who had no formal education or had elementary educational attainment had more confidence in the country’s direction (83%), as compared to those who finished high school (76%), vocational (72%), and college or post-graduate studies (71%).
The survey, which used face-to-face interviews, had a ±3% margin of error at the 95% confidence level. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
