TONY'S TAKE: PERSPECTIVE AND PERCEPTION
GLIMPSES ON DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES, Nr.10
By Tony A. San Juan-OCT. Retired
Toronto-Canada
April 7, 2021
FREEDOM OF SPEECH . The latest Social Weather Stations( SWS) survey reported on March 19, 2021, that "majority or 65 % of Filipinos believe it is “dangerous to publish anything that is critical of the administration, even if it is the truth". The SWS poll was conducted during the period of June 2019 to November 2020. According to the fourth quarter, 2020 survey majority of adult Filipinos agreed with the statement, “It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth.”, while eighteen percent said they are undecided, while 16 percent disagreed.
On "personal freedom of speech" the survey also found that 65 percent of Filipinos agreed with the statement, “I can say anything I want, openly and without fear, even if it is against the administration.” Sixteen percent said they are undecided while 19 percent disagreed. In the six times that Filipinos were asked regarding their freedom of speech in the time of the Duterte administration, the net agreement of a +49 is really strong, according to the SWS survey.
The dangers of publishing criticisms against the administration are high, comparatively, in the past administrations. In Corazon Aquino's presidency, the "net score averaged +33, Fidel Ramos was +38, in the time of Joseph Estrada, +41, in the time of Gloria Arroyo,+ 34 and +32 in the time of Benigno Aquino III". The survey was conducted from November 21 to 25 in 2020 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults nationwide. "Kung ganito, sa totoo lang, para sa sa mga sumasangayon o hindi sa mga pangungusap( statements) ay masabi natin na talagang mapanganib at nakakatakot na mag-lathala/mag- print o mag-broadcast ng anumang kritikal sa administrasyon, kahit ito ay ang katotohanan. Kaya mag-ingat lang!".
JABBING HESITANCY. According to a Pulse Asia survey, the"majority of Filipinos or 61 % are still refusing and not inclined to get inoculated against COVID-19 even as worries over contracting the virus remained high". The results showed there was an increase from the 47% recorded in a similar survey in November 2020.
Only sixteen percent wanted to be vaccinated and the remaining 23 % were undecided. With the infection count having reached a high of 9,000 daily cases in the country, 94 percent of Filipino adults were worried that they or any member of their household might contract COVID-19; three percent were not worried and 3 percent were undecided. Among the reasons cited by those who did not want to get vaccinated was: 1) "Concern about the safety of the vaccines"( 84%) and 74% were "Undecided about getting a shot", 2) "Doubt about the vaccine's effectiveness", 3) "Belief that it is not needed" to fight the virus, and 4) the "high cost" of the vaccine. The poll was conducted among 2,400 adult Filipinos and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.
The survey result, "Ulat sa Bayan", was released on March 26, 2021. "Hindi mo din talaga masisisi ang mga kababayan natin dahil sa kakulangan ng mabuti at totoong impormasyon tungkol sa bakuna at ganoon din sa pag-gamit ng tama at mapag-kakatiwalang klase ng bakuna na dumarating sa bansa".
BLENDED VS. IN-PERSON LEARNING: In the Philippines, the current blended learning system is more difficult or harder than face-to-face or in-person learning, according to 89 percent of Filipino families with enrolled school-age children, as reported by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on March 13, 2021. The poll noted that 87 % in Luzon those surveyed, 88 % in Mindanao, 90 % in Metro Manila, and 92 percent in the Visayas, said that the current blended learning system is more difficult compared to in-class. Only 6% of families surveyed said that "blended learning is easier to pass than face-to-face learning".
In terms of expenses, the survey showed that forty-five percent of families with enrolled school-age members said their expenses are lower in the blended learning system while 37 percent said their expenses were higher. Seventeen percent, meanwhile, said it was neither higher nor lower. With regards to time, 60 % of families said they give more time now to teach and guide children in the blended learning system than in the traditional face-to-face system, while twenty-eight percent said they allot less time now and the remaining 11 percent said the time they give to assist children with their learning is neither more nor less now.
When asked who assists school-aged children in studying their lessons, 57 percent said it is the mother of the student, while thirteen percent said it is the big brother or sister. "Sa mga ganitong paraan, malaking tulong talaga ang magagawa ng magulang at mga kapatid sa pag-aaral ng mga kabataan. Subalit, sana naman ay malampasan at matapos na ang pandemyang ito, para sa ganoon ay mai-balik na ang subok ng mas mahusay, magaling at tamang sistema ng pag-aaral at pag-tuturo sa ating mga mag-aaral."
HAPPINESS INDEX . The Philippines declined in the "happiness index", according to the latest World Happiness Report, a United Nations-sponsored study. The 2021 "World Happiness Index" showed that Finland remained the happiest country for the fourth year in a row. It is followed by European countries like Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The WHR is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.
The yearly report, written by a group of independent experts acting in their personal capacities, ranks countries and cities around the world by their subjective well-being and examines more deeply "how the social, urban, and natural environments combine to affect our happiness". As the country's happiness measure dropped, Malacañang, according to its spokesperson, is saddened by the report as lesser Filipinos are happy because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has expressed hope, though, that "Filipinos will become happier once the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to everyone". That is if and when the full arrival of the vaccine and the roll-out is progressively ramped up.
So we expect that "once everyone is vaccinated, Filipinos will also be happier", added the Palace spokesperson."Sino nga naman ang matutuwa at magiging maligaya sa ganitong panahon ng pandemya bukod tangi sa kawalan at kakulangan ng panganga-ilangan ng maraming Filipino na nawalan pa ng mga trabaho at pag-kakakitaan ng hanapbuhay, kaa-kibat ng nawawalang ng tiwala sa pamamalkad ng gobyerno". (Tony A. San Juan, OCT-Retired).