NCR COVID-19 Survey 2: Mixed reviews on DSWD implementation of Social Amelioration Program
MANILA – The results of the second run of the NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia, Inc. present mixed reviews among respondents regarding the initial implementation of the Social Amelioration Program by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
36.7% of the 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 interviewed between April 13-18, 2020 disapprove of the manner in DSWD is implementing the Social Amelioration Program to give financial assistance to underprivileged families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
33.2% approve of the DSWD’s performance, while 30.1% neither approve nor disapprove.
“These results indicate mixed reviews among respondents regarding the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program, an essential social safety net meant to help underprivileged Filipinos facing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 and the ECQ,” said Mr. Aureli Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director and spokesperson.
Sinsuat also noted that 94.4% of respondents support increasing the number of families qualified to receive financial assistance under the Social Amelioration Program – the second-highest approval rating among existing or proposed COVID-19 policies tested during the second run of the survey.
“The Social Amelioration Program is the flagship COVID-19 relief program of the government for poor and low income Filipino families. It is reasonable to infer that the success or failure of this program will ultimately be reflected in subsequent approval ratings on the response of the Duterte administration to the pandemic,” Sinsuat said.
“The government must work harder to ensure these relief funds reach the people who desperately need them during these trying times,” he added.
NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey is an independent non-commissioned tracking survey designed by PUBLiCUS and VOX Opinion Research (VOX). The survey data was processed and analyzed by VOX, the in-house strategic research arm of PUBLiCUS.
The survey aims to gauge public opinion and perceptions on the following key indicators: Living Standards and Needs during the ECQ; National Government Performance; Local Government Performance; Existing/Proposed COVID-19 Policies.
The online fieldwork for the first run (Apr. 2-6, 2020) and the second run (Apr. 13-18, 2020) of the survey was conducted in partnership with Lightspeed Research/Kantar (Singapore). Lightspeed provided an online panel of 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 from its pool of 100,000 Philippine panelists. The number of respondents per city was distributed proportionally based on official population data.
Lightspeed is now the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Kantar, a leading firm in the global data industry with a panel reach of 88 million respondents in 90 markets worldwide according to its website.
More information on the purposive sampling methodology and panel selection process of the survey can be found here.
Reference: Mr. Aureli C. Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director
Email: acsinsuat@publicusltd.com