MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos are still hopeful going into 2019 – that is, if the latest survey from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) is enough indication.

According to the national SWS survey released on Monday, December 31, the percentage of Filipinos entering the new year with hope is 92%.

Hope for the new year has always been high, but this year’s figure is lower than the record high 96% of hopeful Filipinos going into 2018.

The question for the survey was: “Is it hope or with fear that you enter the coming year?”

More Filipinos answered “fear” this year than last year, with 8% saying they are fearful going into the new year, compared to 4% in 2017.

Hope for the new year has seen steady climb over the years, according to the SWS. It was at 87% when SWS started doing the survey in 2000.

“It went to 88% in 2001, and reached 95% in 2002 before easing to 90% in 2003, 81% in 2004, and 85% in 2005. It ranged from 91% to 92% from 2006 to 2008, before falling to 89% in 2009. It recovered to 93% in 2010, and has since then been at 90s levels, reaching as high as 96% in 2017,” the SWS said.

Numbers down in Visayas, and across all classes

The most significant decline was recorded in Visayas, where New Year hope fell by 16 points, from 95% going into 2018 to a record-low 79% going into 2019. This is a new low since 2000 and 2001, when the area recorded only 83%.

Numbers also fell across all socio-economic classes.

“It fell by 7 points in class ABC, from 97% in 2017 to 90% in 2018. This is the lowest since the 88% in 2007,” the SWS said.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide. It used a sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey was conducted from December 16-19, days before AKO Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe was shot dead on December 22, the first fatal attack against a congressman under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

On the same day, former Kadingilan, Bukidnon mayor Joelito Talaid was also shot dead. Excluding Talaid who was not an incumbent mayor when he was killed, Rappler has tallied at least 7 vice mayors and 12 mayors slain​, ​based on media reports between July 2016 and October 2018.

In the brutal war against drugs, the Duterte administration’s own death count stands at 5,050 from July 2016 to November 2018. – Rappler.com