Year 2020 has been a challenging year for the Philippines with lockdowns adversely affecting the socioeconomic condition of our people. It is therefore not surprising that the Fourth Quarter Survey of the Social Weather stations (SWS), conducted last November 21-25, 2020, showed 62% of Filipinos believe that their quality of life got worse in the last twelve months.

However, things are looking up. The economy has reopened which means more livelihood opportunities have become available. This has been felt by our people as it is noteworthy to mention that the latest figure, 62% in November 2020, is a marked improvement from the 82% of Filipinos who had the same belief last September 2020. Also, the latest SWS survey indicated that hunger among Filipino families easing to 16% from a record-high of 30.7%. Unemployment, as per the October 2020 Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), revealed that the country’s unemployment rate eased to 8.7% in October 2020 from a high of 17.7% last April 2020.

Ingat buhay para sa hanapbuhay will continue to be our direction in 2021 with the opening of more industries to revitalize our economy and stimulate growth for the betterment of the lives of our people next year and beyond.