BY REGINA BENGCO

TWO in three Filipinos (66 percent) yesterday said the economy worsened in the last three years, Pulse Asia said in its Feb. 21-March 8 survey.

The survey had 1,200 respondents.

Seventy-one percent or about 12.8 million families said they are very poor/poor. It was the same level in July and October 2007 (75 percent and 68 percent, respectively).

Nearly six in 10 Filipinos (59 percent) said their personal quality of life worsened in the past year, a sentiment expressed by 48 to 68 percent of respondents in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes.

Only 10 percent said their lives are better off while 31 percent said there was no change in the past 12 months.

On the national quality of life, 71 percent believe that the lives of their countrymen became worse in the past 12 months, a view shared by 65 percent in Luzon to 81 percent in Mindanao.

Only 6 percent believe that the national quality of life improved while 23 percent said it was unchanged.

Only 11 percent said the economy is better now than in 2005 while 23 percent said it was the same.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said the survey results were negative because it was conducted while government was in the middle of corruption allegations.

He said government has been increasing its spending on basic services and infrastructure. "We expect to see a decline of our poverty rate with more people experiencing the fruits of our economic growth in the months and years to come," he said.

Cerge Remonde, Presidential Management Staff director general, said it "always takes time" for the benefits of economic growth to reach the masses, which is why it should be sustained.