MANILA: Almost all Filipino adults, or 92 percent, said they are hopeful for the new year, according to a recent survey by Pulse Asia.
The survey conducted Dec. 3 to 7 showed that only 1 percent will face 2024 without hope, while 7 percent were neither hopeful nor without hope for the coming year.
“Amidst the various challenges Filipinos face on a daily basis, most of them continue to remain optimistic, with 92% saying they will face the new year with hope. This is the prevailing sentiment in every geographic area and socio-economic grouping,” Pulse Asia said in its report.
Ninety-five percent of respondents from the Visayas said they are hopeful, followed by Balance Luzon at 94 percent, National Capital Region at 92 percent, and Mindanao at 84 percent.
The same survey also showed that 41 percent of the respondents believe that their holiday celebrations this year will be as prosperous as last year’s.
Around 30 percent are expecting their celebrations this year to be more prosperous than in 2022.
Sixtee
n percent said their upcoming holiday celebrations will be the same as last year in the sense that it was not prosperous.
Meanwhile, 13 percent said it would be ‘poorer’ than last year.
The survey on the high optimism of Filipinos was made during the same week of the escalating tension in the West Philippine Sea between the Philippines and China, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Surigao del Sur, the bombing at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City and a nationwide transport strike, among others.
The nationwide survey was based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above.
It has a ± 2.8 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Philippines News Agency
Hanoi: More than 1,100 natural disasters have taken place across Vietnam this year, heard a conference held by the office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Hanoi on December 22.
Accordingly, natural disasters have to date caused 166 people dead and missing, down 5% year-on-year. The estimated economic damage is about 8.23 trillion VND (339.38 million USD), an annual decrease of 58%. Faced with the abnormal and extreme nature of the disasters, the Government, Prime Minister, national steering committee have directed ministries and localities to vigorously and promptly implement responsive solutions.
According to Hoang Phuc Lam, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, this year has so far seen eight storms and tropical depressions. Severe heatwaves have occurred, with temperatures in some places reaching up to 44.2 degrees Celsius. Heavy rains have taken place in the central region, with 35 provinces and cities affected by fl
oods and landslides.
Throughout the year, the centre has implemented a comprehensive set of measures to enhance the detailed level of flood and landslide warning messages, focusing on applying new and modern technologies to determine more detailed rainfall thresholds. Notably, a real-time warning information system is being integrated into its related forecasting./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency