Photo courtesy of Social Weather Stations

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — For the 30 percent of Filipinos surveyed by Social Weather Stations (SWS), life for them only got worse and 41 percent said there has been no change to their quality of life.

On Sunday, the SWS claimed that its September 28-October 1 national survey “found 28% of adult Filipinos said the quality of their lives was better than twelve months before while 30% averred it got worse and 41% claimed it was the same compared to a year ago.”

The SWS referred to the 28 percent who apparently see life as the proverbial “half-full” in a glass of water as “gainers” while the, 30% who believe that the quality of life got worse were “losers” and those 41% who believe it was the same compared to a year ago was “unchanged.”

SWS said the September score was 13 points below the very high +11 in June 2023 and the lowest since the -2 in June 2022.

On the other hand, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said inflation in September rose to 6.1 percent despite a government price cap on rice.

The PSA noted that inflation — how quickly prices rise in a given period — is felt more drastically by the poor.

It further observed that inflation for the bottom 30 percent of households reached 6.9 percent in September.

Food prices that month were up 9.7 percent year-on-year while transport costs also rose, the PSA said.

(ai/mnm)