Majority of Filipinos, or 66%, consider the need to control inflation as the national issue that requires the immediate attention of the incumbent administration, according to a recent Pulse Asia survey.

The survey, conducted from September 17 to 21 on 1,200 adults, also revealed that increasing the pay of workers ranked second among the urgent concerns that need government action at 44%, followed by creating more jobs at 35% and reducing poverty at 34%.

The other national concerns are:

• Fighting graft and corruption (22%),
• fighting criminality (19%)
• addressing the problem of involuntary hunger (17%)
• enforcing the law on influential or ordinary people (12%)
• providing support to micro, small and medium businesses (9%) stopping environmental destruction and abuse (9%)
• promoting peace in the country (8%)
• reducing taxes paid got (7%)
• controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic (5%)
• defending the integrity oft he Philippine territory against foreigners (5%)
• protecting the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (4%) preparing to face any kind of terrorism (2%)
• other concerns (0.2%)

The results of the survey were released just a day after the country’s inflation, or the rate of increase in the prices of consumer goods and services, was recorded at 6.9% in September, higher than the August inflation rate of 6.6%.

The 66% who regarded controlling inflation as the most urgent concern is nine percentage points higher than last June’s 57%, Pulse Asia said.

Meanwhile, the 35% who considered the creation of more jobs as the most urgent concern also increased by six percentage points compared with the June figure, while those whose top concern is fighting crime (19%) and addressing the problem of involuntary hunger (17%) also increased by five percentage points compared with three months ago.

Among the key developments reported prior and during the survey were the lifting of the mandatory wearing of face masks in outdoor settings across the country; President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s working visits to Indonesia and Singapore; the resignation of Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez; the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Martial Law declaration; and the depreciation of the Philippine peso against the American dollar.

Pulse Asia conducted the poll using face-to-face interviews on 1,200 adults aged 18 years old and above. It has a ± 2.8% error margin at 95% confidence level. —KBK, GMA News