Christmas thoughts

The people’s Christmas gift. The first report from the Social Weather Stations’ survey of Dec. 3-7, 2011, released yesterday in BusinessWorld, puts those satisfied with President Aquino at 71 percent, and those dissatisfied with him at 13 percent, for a very good net satisfaction rating of +58, or two points over his +56 last September.

In the new survey, public satisfaction with P-Noy also became very good in Metro Manila, matching other areas. In the capital, it went from net +41 (which, being below +50, was called “good”) last September to +54 in December.  Elsewhere, the new ratings are +60 in the rest of Luzon, +59 in the Visayas, and +56 in Mindanao.

P-Noy’s net rating is very good across socio-economic classes: +61 among the middle-to-upper ABCs, +58 among the masa Ds, and +56 among the very poor Es.  The same goes for almost all other demographics, including urban and rural, men and women, old and young, schooled and unschooled, the lowest rating being a good +48 in ages 18-24.

Thus P-Noy’s honeymoon with the people has now lasted for a year and a half.  It is his bosses’ holiday gift to him.  The gift is from them, not from SWS, which is simply the people’s delivery service.

Of course, we enjoy our function, too, much as delivery boys of the holiday season enjoy bringing good cheer to their recipients.  In fact we feel entitled to the pleasure of bringing good news, since it offsets the discomfort we cannot help sharing in the times when the news isn’t good.  Maintaining psychic equilibrium is healthy.

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Present Christmas cheer not like “the good old days”? Another SWS report out of the December 2011 survey is about the people’s expectations of Christmas being happy, or sad, or neither happy nor sad.  This year 64 percent expect it to be happy, 11 percent expect it to be sad, and 24 percent expect it to be neither.

When SWS first surveyed this item in 2002, there were 82 percent expecting a happy, and only 3 percent expecting a sad, Christmas.  In 2003, the happy and sad percentages were 77 and 4.  In retrospect, it now seems that 2002 and 2003 were “the good old days” of happily anticipated Christmases.

Comparing 2004-2011 to 2002-2003, those expecting to be happy are recently far fewer, ranging from 62 to 69 percent only, while those expecting to be sad are recently more plentiful, ranging from 7 to 11 percent, i.e. the current 11 percent expecting to be sad is the record-high.

As to why Filipinos haven’t yet repeated the good old days of 2002-2003 in terms of anticipation for Christmas, I really do not know.  I think such times are capable of happening again.  In any case, it apparently requires other things besides being highly satisfied with presidential performance.

By area, the current percentages expecting a happy Christmas are 69 in Mindanao, 64 in Luzon outside Metro Manila, 61 in the Visayas, and 60 in Metro Manila.  Over the past 10 years, Mindanaoans have generally been the most optimistic (often at 70 percent and up), and Metro Manilans the least optimistic (a few times, below 50 percent), about a coming Christmas.  However, the December 2011 figures cited here are from before the tragedy of Tropical Storm “Sendong,” which surely darkened the moods of the people, especially those in Mindanao.  So the area pattern has probably changed since before the storm.

Material well-being does play some part in expecting a happy Christmas.  By socio-economic class, the December 2011 happy versus sad percentages are 74-6 among the middle-to-upper ABCs, 65-10 among the masa Ds, and 60-16 among the very poor Es.  (The balances from 100 percent are, as usual, those with neutral expectations.)  In most years, it has been the ABC classes that have the highest expectations for a happy Christmas.

Perhaps you saw the SWS report as to what Filipinos would most like to receive as a gift for Christmas? Just bear in mind that, as is standard for a poll of public opinion, all respondents were adults, at least 18 years old.  In other words, too old to sit on Santa’s lap.

Thus the most popular answer (only one answer accepted) is money (23 percent).  After that come good health (17 percent), the family’s being together (13 percent), and food (8 percent).  Those four items already make up 61 percent of the answers.

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Christmas obligations. A way to cope more easily with one’s obligations is to be of humble demeanor, and not consider oneself above others.  May I share my father’s advice, which has benefited me so much, over the years, as to be his continuing Christmas gift to me:

“Many well-meaning citizens are quite bothered as to what policy to follow in the matter of dispensing their Christmas obligations.  We admit it is quite a task to sort your friends and determine who deserves a check, a lounge robe, a bill folder, a Chanel, an ashtray, or a five-cent greeting card.

“We have adopted one for ourself, and if it helps you any you are welcome to it.  That policy is to seek only those beneath your station for the object of your munificence.  This undoubtedly can be quite a problem if you are a professional sponsor or an aspirant for senator.  To us, personally, it is very simple indeed.  There is only the doorman to think of.” (From Federico Mangahas’ column “Christmas thoughts II”, in the editorial page of the Philippines Herald, Dec. 24, 1940.)

Merry Christmas to all!

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Contact SWS: www.sws.org.ph or [email protected].