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FOR GMA'S FIRST 100 DAYS: FILIPINOS WANT DECENT WAGES, REASONABLE RATES - IBON SURVEY
by IBON Foundation
Thursday, Jul. 29, 2004 at 10:50 AM
editors@ibon.org (632)7132729, (632)7132737 3/F SCC Bldg., 4427 Int. Old Sta. Mesa, Manila
In the face of rising cost of living, Filipinos want just wages, and affordable oil, power and water rates. This is according to the latest IBON nationwide survey.
What do Filipinos want President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prioritize in her first 100 days in office?
In the face of rising cost of living, Filipinos want just wages, and affordable oil, power and water rates. This is according to the latest IBON nationwide survey.
Of the 1,681 respondents, 66.45% said that Pres. Arroyo should prioritize granting decent wages to workers. More than half of the respondent-workers said that at present, they do not receive the minimum wage, which for almost four years have been fixed at P250 in Metro Manila.
Moreover, 68.71% of the total number of respondents said the P20-additional allowance is not enough.
Majority of the respondents (63.83%) also placed reasonable prices of oil, power, and water on top of their demands for the new government. Consumers, already burdened by high prices, want government to put a stop on the successive price hikes of these three basic commodities.
Moreover, 52.35% of the respondents said that government should increase the budget for social services. This year, social services get only 28.73% of the national budget.
Disgruntled by large-scale corruption in the bureaucracy, majority of Filipinos (60.62%) also want the GMA administration to immediately act on graft and corruption cases. Graft and corruption has robbed the people of much revenues that Filipinos want more than mere reforms in tax administration and lifestyle checks of government officials.
Says IBON research director Antonio Tujan Jr., the new government should heed these demands immediately. “President Arroyo’s commitment to implement genuine reforms must be felt this early,” he says. “Otherwise, the stability that she hopes to achieve will remain elusive.”
The IBON July 2004 Survey was conducted nationwide last June 30-July 9 to find out the people’s perception of the economy, their livelihood and income, government performance, and other pressing issues.
The latest IBON survey has a margin of error of plus or minus two percent.
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