Most Filipinos welcome the New Year 2022 “with hope rather than with fear” despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Results of a survey done by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) show that 93 percent of adult Filipinos will welcome 2022 with hope.
Only seven percent of the respondents will enter the New Year with apprehensions.
The difference from the 91 percent recorded in 2020 is not statistically significant, but both readings are below the pre-pandemic 96 percent in 2019.
Hope for the New Year started at 87 percent when SWS first asked the question at the end of 2000.
This year, SWS said that 98 percent of those expecting a happy Christmas are entering the New Year with Hope
The December 2021 survey found that 65 percent of adult Filipinos expected Christmas to be happy, 8% expected it to be sad, and 22% expected it to be neither happy nor sad.
The percentage of those who are entering the New Year with hope rather than fear is higher among those who expected a happy Christmas (98%) than those who expected neither a happy nor sad Christmas (90%) and those who expected a sad Christmas (88%).
Hope for the New Year rises in all areas except Mindanao.
The Fourth Quarter 2021 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 12-16, 2021, using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide.
The area estimates were weighted by the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2021 to obtain the national estimates.