Social pension gets public support

THE universal social pension for senior citizens and enhanced cybersecurity and data privacy measures for all government agencies earned the highest approval ratings among all national issues, with 90 percent of respondents in favor, survey shows.

Conducted from June 15 to 19, Publicus Asia's Pahayag second quarter survey revealed the public's strong support for policies aimed at improving social welfare and securing sensitive government information.

Social pension and cybersecurity were closely followed by a second group of issues (81 percent approval) revolving around peace and order, including the passage of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act and the Senate probe into an illegal drug seizure in Alitagtag, Batangas, last April.

The proposed abolition of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) and the arrest of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy earned the nod of 75 percent of the respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 registered Filipino voters maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with multinational presence.

Meanwhile, inflation remains a critical concern, with 81 percent of Filipinos supporting the revival of the National Food Authority-Food Terminal Inc.-Kadiwa system to better connect farmers with marketplaces, providing consumers with affordable agricultural products.

A third tier of issues, each approved by about 70 percent of respondents, include proposals to revert the school calendar to the June to March period, adjustment of working hours for local government units in Metro Manila to ease traffic congestion and consolidation of various government aid programs into a single National Family Stipend Program.

A mixed sentiment was observed regarding the ayuda (aid) program. About half of Filipinos view it positively as a means to assist fellow citizens (47 percent), while a significant portion, or 43 percent, perceive it as susceptible to abuse.

In terms of coverage, only 23 percent of Filipinos report receiving government aid or assistance in the past two years, with a high concentration in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Among the recipients, 43 percent said that