THE result of the July 3-6 poll of Social Weather Stations on the people’ perception on their quality of life in the last 12 months was perhaps to be expected in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey said 79 percent of Filipinos said their quality of life had worsened compared to a year ago, while 8 percent said it was better – for a net score of -72, described by SWS as “catastrophic.” The balance of 12 percent said their quality of life was unchanged.
Among the various regions of the country, the dissatisfaction was greatest in the Visayas (-75), followed by Balance-Luzon (-74), Metro Manila (-71), and Mindanao (-65). If it is any consolation, the July survey results were a little better than the results in May, two months earlier. At that time, 83 percent said their lives had worsened from a year ago.
It is easy to see why so many Filipinos today feel so disillusioned about their lives. Since March, they have been subjected to various levels of restrictions on their personal movements, their livelihoods, their social relations, and even their religious activities.
The COVID-19 deaths directly affected their families, but all others in the community, barangay, town or, city, province, and region were restricted in one form or another. The poor suffered the most, especially those without regular income, who needed to be out in the streets as vendors or errand boys or construction workers to earn enough to buy food for the day.
Those with regular employment could not go to work if they lived in locked-down areas or if their offices or factories were closed. Even when business started to reopen, there was no mass transportation available, as officials saw crowded buses or rail coaches as potential spreaders of infection. Add to these local workers the hundred of thousands of overseas Filipino workers returning from countries similarly hit by COVID-19.
The last few months passed without the annual celebrations of Holy Week, Eid al-Adha, no school graduations, no birthday parties, no Santacruzans, no weddings or baptisms, no Masses and other church services. With no vaccine expected until December or even later, there will be no face-to-face classes in school. In two more weeks, it will be September 1, when we traditionally started hearing Christmas carols in the past, but the festive spirit is not there this year. It may not be there even by December 25.
No wonder, the SWS survey last July showed a big 79 percent –about four out of every five Filipinos – saying their lives are so much worse than last year. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured the public that the government is working to improve the lives of everyone. He need not defend the government in any way, for everyone knows it is not to blame.
We, like the rest of the world, will just have to endure all these difficulties. We can expect all succeeding surveys to be equally negative until the pandemic ends and the world starts recovering. When that comes – and it will surely come – we can expect great hope and great expectations in the succeeding surveys of our people.
