Most Filipinos are hopeful for 2021, but many hope to be poorer during the holidays: survey

MANILA – Most Filipinos will celebrate Christmas as they did last year, while 91 percent will welcome the New Year with hope despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Pulse Asia survey released on Wednesday. .

Of 2,400 adults surveyed from November 23 to December 2, about 55 percent said Christmas this year would be the same for them as the year before, while 38 percent said this year’s holiday season would be less. prosperous, and 8 percent said yes. looking forward to a more prosperous celebration.

The predominant sentiment was highest among Metro Manila residents and the rest of Luzon at 60 percent each, followed by Visayas at 55 percent and Mindanao residents at 41 percent.

Meanwhile, more Filipinos this year expect their vacations to be less prosperous, with 38 percent saying they would be poorer compared to 11 percent in 2019, the study showed.

About 91 percent of those surveyed, meanwhile, were optimistic for 2021, while 8 percent were “ambivalent” and 1 percent said they would face the new year without hope, according to the survey.

The sentiment was most popular in Balance Luzon (93 percent), followed by Visayas (92 percent), Metro Manila (91 percent) and Mindanao (87 percent).

The survey, with a ± 2 percent margin of sampling error for national percentages, was conducted after a series of storms flooded Luzon and parts of Visayas.

It also followed the announcement by drug makers Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines are more than 90 percent effective, and the extension of the general community quarantine in Metro Manila and Davao City until the end of December.

The rise of COVID-19 in Metro Manila has begun, the OCTA Research Group warned days before Christmas.

The Philippines reported 462,815 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, with 24,375 active infections.