Ah, Filipinos, ever the optimists.
A survey released by local research institution Social Weather Stations (SWS) yesterday revealed that more Filipinos are optimistic about their future despite an uptick in people who said that their quality of life has worsened.
The study, which in June surveyed 1,200 adults nationwide, found that 49 percent of people expect their personal quality of life to improve in the next 12 months. These “optimists” are far more than the “pessimists” or those who expect their lives to get worse, which only counted for 5 percent of those interviewed.
This makes the country’s net personal optimists score +44, which the survey classifies as “excellent.” This score is four points higher than the data collected by a similar survey in March.
More people remained positive despite the fact that 27 percent of those surveyed in June said that their lives worsened, an increase from the 21 percent who said the same in March.
On the other hand, only 32 percent said their lives improved in the June survey, a drop from the 41 percent from March.
This brought down the country’s net gainers score to +5 or “high,” 15 points down from last quarter’s “excellent” score of +20.
Filipinos have long been praised for their optimism. Earlier this year, a study by United States-based firm Gallup International ranked the Philippines as the third happiest country in the world.
However, folks back home aren’t sure that’s a good thing.
When a tropical storm hit the Philippines over the weekend, some netizens called on people to stop highlighting the Filipino people’s resilience in times of crisis. What good will that do, they said, if it keeps the country from improving and preventing floods in the first place?
They demanded the government to improve the drainage system and be better prepared for flooding, which happens in cities and towns all over the country whenever it’s the rainy season.
What do you think? Is being optimistic a good thing or does it keep us from demanding improvements? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us @CoconutsManila.
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