Sánchez: Optimism

Friday, December 30, 2011

WE MIGHT not be the richest country, but what we lack in financial resources, we make up with optimism galore. Hope springs eternal for Filipinos.

Take a look at the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which showed that despite dire global economic predictions and a series of natural calamities that hit the country us in 2011, nine out of 10 Filipinos can still face the coming year with hope.

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Compared to 2010, the hope for year 2012 even grew by five points in Mindanao, from 89 percent to 94 percent. The last time Mindanaoans scored that optimism level was in 2002.

For Visayans, the figures remained scored a notch lower from a record-high 97 percent in 2010 to 96 percent in 2011. The dip was the same in Luzon, from 94 percent to 95 percent. Metro-Manila remained pegged at 96 percent.

Even the poor looks forward to the coming New Year with optimism. Compared to 2010, New Year hope rose by four points among the very poor class E, from 89 percent and hit the highest at 93 percent, overshadowing previous highs of 91 percent in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007.

Yesterday’s news on the Fourth Quarter Social Weather Survey was held from Dec. 3 to 7. Would the percentage points, however, remain the same or would have dipped over a week later when Sendong became the bad news in Iligan and Cagayon de Oro, or those in the Negros Oriental towns of Amlan, Bacong, Mabinay, Pamplona, San Jose, Siaton, Sibulan, Valencia and the cities of Dumaguete and Tanjay?

In all likelihood, there would be downturn. But would there forever a weeping and gnashing of teeth in these areas? That I doubt.

On the financial side, the latest Citi Financial Quotient (Fin-Q) mid-year 2011 survey paints a disappointing picture, with Filipinos scoring a financial intelligence quotient of 48.9, or less than half the maximum score of 100.

While our Fin-Q in this year’s survey was a bit lower than 2009’s 49, the score is much better than the 46.6 in 2008 and the 47.8 baseline score in 2007 when the survey was launched.

The survey showed that 57 percent of the Filipino respondents feel they have a “good” or “very good” understanding about money management and personal finances.

About 65 percent of the respondents believed that they are better off today than their parents were at the same age, a sentiment that is significantly stronger for those earning P700,000 or more annually. How I wish I could earn that much, I certainly am far below that level. Yet I remain optimistic of the future.

“With better access to financial education, Filipinos are able to manage their current finances, and have become even more conscious about saving for the future,” Citi added.

The major financial concerns of Filipinos involve building savings back up in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, meeting monthly expenses, and doing a better job of saving for retirement.

On the environmental field, Dr. Robin Broad, a Professor of International Development at the School of International Service at American University echoes the same sentiment. She teaches courses on economic globalization and development, with a focus on social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

In her 1993 article “The poor and the environment: Friends or foes?” published in World Development, a multi-disciplinary monthly journal of development studies, Dr. Broad noted that across rural Filipino communities, large numbers of poorer people have been transformed into environmental activists, refuting of the traditional paradigm of poor people as environmental destroyers and enormous insights into the conditions under which poor people become environmental protectors.

Let us never forget that the bottle is always half-full, even if our favorite pastime seems to be government-bashing or each other. Come to think of it, despite all our problems that come our way, there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic with each coming New Year. Happy New Year 2012 everyone!