SWS: 96 percent Filipinos enter New Year with hope

 EDITORIAL

Instead of fear, around 96 percent of adult Filipinos are entering the New Year with hope, the highest recorded since the pre-pandemic in 2019, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Thursday.
    Results of the Dec. 8-11 survey found that hope for the coming new year is one point higher than the 95 percent recorded in 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic 96 percent in 2019.
    Meanwhile, 3 percent answered they are entering 2024 with fear, down by 2 points from 5 percent in 2022.
    Entering the New Year with hope was the highest among respondents in Metro Manila and Balance Luzon at 97 percent, followed by Mindanao at 96 percent, and Visayas at 93 percent.
    The pollster said New Year hope at the end of 2023 rose slightly across educational levels compared to the end of 2022: from 92 percent to 93 percent among non-elementary graduates, from 95 percent to 97 percent among elementary graduates, from 95 percent to 96 percent among junior high school graduates, and from 96 percent to 98 percent among college graduates.
    The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults aged 18 years old and above nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), the Visayas, and Mindanao.
    The sampling error margins are ±2.8 percent for national percentages, and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

 

EDITORIAL 

Transport crisis looming with PUV modernization 

More than 100 Sangguniang Kabataan officials have signed a unity statement opposing the government’s franchise consolidation plan for public utility vehicles (PUV), warning that the franchise consolidation requirement would lead to a mass transport crisis among millions of commuters.
    According to a statement shared by the Kabataan Partylist, the SK officials said they oppose the franchise consolidation deadline set on Dec. 31 as it threatens to strip off the livelihood and income of more than 60,0000 jeepney operators by forcing them to submit to the management of transport cooperatives or corporations.
    Kabataan Partylist told reporters in a message on Sunday that 111 officials have signed the statement. 
    “The repercussions of drastically reducing the number of PUVs in January 2024 extend beyond economic implications. Aside from creating dents in commuter’s budgets, especially those working or studying, it threatens to plunge millions of Filipino commuters into a dire transport crisis, profoundly impacting crucial sectors of our economy,” the statement read.
    The youth leaders also urged Marcos to review the PUV modernization program and “either set aside or completely revoke” the deadline for franchise consolidation to "avert an impending transport crisis."
    “Though government information insists on progress in terms of franchise consolidation, ground reports paint a different picture — one that ensures that existing policies will neglect the conditions of the transport industry,” the statement added.
    The SK officials also hit the government’s franchise consolidation requirement, saying that this essentially violates the rights of jeepney drivers and operators to form their own associations by “compelling them to dissolve their existing associations to comply or risk losing their means of livelihood.”
    A memorandum circular issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board last Dec. 22 allows jeepney drivers and operators who have not yet consolidated to still ply the roads after the Dec. 31 deadline. However, they will no longer be allowed to join cooperatives or corporations.