By: Alexandria Dennise San Juan
Controlling inflation and road construction topped the major national and local concerns that the government needs to address, the latest Pulse Asia survey said.
The Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted among 1,200 Filipinos from Sept. 24 to 30 found out that 15.9 percent said the poor state of roads or road infrastructure is the major local issue that the Duterte administration should immediately address, followed by flooding (11.2 percent) and illegal drugs (10.2 percent).
Other local issues that the government should attend to were waste management (7.5 percent), unemployment or lack of livelihood opportunities (6.5 percent), absence of water services or irrigation facilities (5.1 percent), youth-related concerns such as loitering and riots (3.7 percent), drinking sessions or the presence of “tambay” or bystanders on the streets (2.3 percent);
Lack of healthcare services and incidents of robbery or theft (1.9 percent), lack or absence of street lights and lack of public transportation (1.7 percent), lack or absence of housing projects (1.3 percent), presence of corrupt barangay officials and illegal gambling, and electricity (1.1 percent).
On the national level, half of the respondents or 50 percent said the government needs to control inflation or the increase in prices of basic commodities.
It was followed by increasing the pay of workers (42 percent), fighting criminality (36 percent), creating more jobs (32 percent), fighting corruption in government and reducing poverty (28 percent), peace and order (21 percent) and enforcement of the rule of law (16 percent).