58% of Pinoys say gov't efforts 'insufficient' to curb high prices —survey

The majority of Filipinos believe that the efforts of the Marcos administration were wanting to control the rise in prices of goods and services, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations sponsored by Stratbase Consultancy.

A total of 58 percent of the respondents said the efforts were "definitely insufficient and somewhat insufficient," while 16 percent were satisfied with the government (sufficient).

Those who said that efforts were neither sufficient nor insufficient account for 19 percent, while 7 percent said they "don't know enough to give an opinion."

The Stratbase-SWS January 2025 Pre-Election Survey was conducted from January 17-20, 2025, using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao.

The sampling error margins are ±2.31% for national percentages, ±5.66% for Metro Manila, ±3.27% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.66% each for the Visayas and Mindanao.

According to Stratbase-SWS, the exact phrasing of the survey questions was, "Sa inyong palagay, ang ibinibigay bang solusyon ng Administrasyong Marcos upang malutas ang pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at serbisyo o ‘inflation’ ay: Talagang sapat, Medyo sapat, Hindi sapat at hindi rin kulang, Medyo kulang, Talagang kulang, o Hindi sapat ang inyong kaalaman upang magbigay ng opinion."

(In your opinion, are the solutions provided by the Marcos Administration to control the increase in prices of goods and services or inflation: Definitely sufficient, Somewhat sufficient, Neither sufficient nor insufficient, Somewhat insufficient, Definitely insufficient, or You don’t know enough to give an opinion).

Most of the dissatisfied respondents were from Mindanao (65 percent), followed by NCR (60 percent), Balance Luzon (56 percent), and Visayas (54 percent).

Stratbase president Dindo Manhit said the survey results did not reflect government data that inflation remained at 2.9% in January 2025.

“Having majority of the Filipino people say this month that the government’s inflation control solutions are insufficient should be a wake-up call to our leaders. These numbers are the reason the public’s trust toward the government is continuously declining,” said Manhit.

“There’s no room for complacency with the current inflation rate. It is crucial for the Marcos administration to work harder to ensure that the Filipino people truly feel the positive impact of their anti-inflation measures,” he added.

Meanwhile, 59% of the survey respondents said that an increase in the price of rice was the most notable or significant from October to December 2024.

This was followed by price hikes for beef, pork, and chicken at 29%, vegetables at 11%, and seafood at 4%.—LDF, GMA Integrated News