80% of Filipinos rate themselves poor: survey

from ABS CBN News

A research agency, IBON Foundation, released three surveys that showed the perception Filipino respondents nationwide on the subjects of being poor, the oil deregulation law, and the trouble of making ends meet.

The first survey released by IBON found out that the number of Filipinos who see themselves poor increased in the first four months of the year.

"The IBON April 2008 survey showed that 79.3% of 1,495 respondents thought of themselves as poor, an increase from 71.7% in January 2008," IBON said.

The results of the self-rated poverty survey showed that 1,186 answered "yes" to the question "When you look at your situation today, do you think of yourself as poor?"

This was followed by 236 who answered "no", 68 gave a "don’t know" reply, and five for "no answer".

Meanwhile, six out of 10 Filipinos answered they want the oil deregulation law repealed in the midst of weekly oil price increases.

The April 2008 survey results stated that 58.6 percent of respondents agreed with proposals to restore government regulation of the local oil industry and repeal the Oil Deregulation Act (Republic Act 8479).

The Oil Deregulation Act, which was implemented in 1998, removed government control over the downstream oil industry.

The question asked on the survey was, "Do you agree with the proposals to return government regulation on the oil industry and to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law?"

A total of 876 (58.6%) answered "yes", while 369 said "no", 235 replied "don’t know", and 15 for "no answer".

On the other hand, seven out of 10 Filipinos have trouble buying enough food and paying for basic expenses.

"Of the 1,495 respondents, 75.3% said that their family had a problem buying enough food, a substantial increase from 63.2% last January, while 69.7% had trouble paying for electricity and water bills," the survey said.

It also showed that 67.42 percent of respondents have difficulty paying for transportation costs as compared to 60.6 percent in January; 73.4 percent had a problem buying their medicines or paying for their medical treatment; and 68.2 percent had trouble paying for their children’s tuition.