Filipinos want Duterte to talk about jobs, economy in SONA 2021

In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), Filipinos want President Rodrigo Duterte to talk about creating jobs and improving the economy.

According to the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from June 7-16 using face-to-face interviews, Filipinos want the President to talk about the economy, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the regions, people in the Visayas (41%) and Metro Manila (40%) want Duterte to discuss creating more jobs and livelihood. Among classes, this topic registered the highest for Class ABC (49%) then Class E (38%).

Filipinos also want to hear about measures on how to control inflation. In June, inflation was down to 4.1% – still above the government’s target of between 2% to 4%.

Apart from the economy, Filipinos also want Duterte to discuss his plans to hasten COVID-19 vaccination (31%) and improving the pay of workers (26%) and the educational system (26%).

A small percentage of Filipinos surveyed want the President to discuss the drug war (17% ) and changing the Constitution (7%).

Pulse Asia also found that a big majority or 69% of Filipinos are largely aware of Duterte’s SONAs. The highest awareness is in Metro Manila (83%) and Mindanao (87%), where people said they have either watched, read, or heard about the SONA.

In Luzon and the Visayas, the numbers dipped to 55% and 62%, respectively.

Pulse Asia surveyed 2,400 individuals aged 18 years old and above for this survey. At the time of the June survey period, the Greater Manila Area was under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions.

During this time, too, the latest figure of 3.73 million unemployed Filipinos was announced by the Philippine Statistics Authority. The Manila Electric Company also increased its overall rate in June for the third straight month. – Rappler.com

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