86% of Pinoys to welcome 2010 with hope - poll

MANILA, Philippines - Eight out of 10 Filipinos or 86 percent said they will welcome the New Year with hope, the latest Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan national survey showed.

Pulse Asia’s October 2009 survey showed that 86 percent of Filipinos will face the New Year with hope, while seven percent are without hope or apprehension for the year ahead.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Oct. 22 to 30 used face-to-face interviews on 1,800 adults 18 years old and above.

“Between October 2008 and 2009, there is an eight-percentage point increase among Filipinos who say they will face the year ahead with hope,” the survey firm said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 49 percent of the population said the coming Christmas will be different from the one they had a year ago. 

Forty-six percent percent of the population said their Christmas will be the same as last year.

Pulse Asia said 29 percent of the population expects a more prosperous Christmas this year despite the string of natural disasters that devastated various parts of the country in 2009, nine percentage points higher than 20 percent in October 2008.

The survey has an error margin of plus or minus two to three percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.