MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday welcomed the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing a record number of Filipinos who said they were happy and satisfied with their lives.
According to SWS survey conducted on Dec. 8-16 last year, 94 percent of the respondents said they were happy while 92 percent said they were satisfied with their lives.
“This (first) piece of good news will make the opposition very sad,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said during a Palace media briefing.
The SWS survey showed that of 94 percent said they were happy with their lives, 57 percent said they were very happy and 37 percent said they were fairly happy.
Only 6 percent said they were not happy with 1 percent feeling not happy at all.
Among the respondents who said were satisfied with their lives, a record-high 56 percent said they were very satisfied, 37 percent fairly satisfied, 6 percent not very satisfied and 1 percent not at all satisfied.
Roque said out of 32 surveys conducted by SWS since 1991, three of the five instances where in over 90 percent said they were very happy took place under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“These were December 2016, September 2017, and December 2017,” he said.
He attributed the SWS survey results to “genuine change” under the leadership of President Duterte.
“Indeed genuine change under the leadership of President Duterte which has been felt by our people coupled with their hope for a better future under the current government certainly makes Filipinos across all geographic areas happy – and the opposition sad,” he said.
Meanwhile, Roque also welcomed the report of the Department of Finance (DOF) that the revenue tax collections in 2017 have reached PHP2.251 billion pesos which represents 14.25 of gross domestic product (GDP).
He said the number is considered as the highest tax effort in 10 years.
Roque has also expressed elation over reports that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) ranked 10th in the World Airport Awards for Most Import Airports in the 2018.
According to Skytrax, the leading global source of airline rating and reviews, the award for most improved airport is based on a relative year-on-year quality performance by all airports featured in the World Airport Survey.
The survey was held from August 2017 to February 2018, covering 550 airports worldwide. (PNA)
