By ALBERT CASTRO

If you are wondering why it is taking too long to reach the tipping point to oust President Arroyo from office, a recent survey done by Nielsen Co. showed that Filipinos are generally happy with the economy and will not welcome political unrest.

Benedicto L. Cid, Jr., Nielsen Co. managing director, added that Filipinos tend to recall too much of how bad it was to lose jobs to risk political instability that they feel will lead to recession.

"Generally the people are happy with the economy. They don’t look forward to political instability. This could also mean that the people probably want issues to be solved on what is peaceful... what legal frameworks are available," said Cid.

The survey done by Nielsen online showed that what Filipinos fear most are loss of jobs, civil conflicts and political instability, the moment the economy weakens.

"We have seen so much of them (unemployment, political instability, and civil conflicts and strikes) in the past. They worry people," he said.

Nielsen asked respondents varied questions like the chances that their current condition may improve, their biggest concern at the moment, and about their discretionary way of spending income.

Cid said the survey which was done in November reflect the perception of the "online middle to upper class" strata.

Respondents said unemployment would concern them the most in the event of a local recession, with 70 percent of those surveyed giving it the highest priority among choices. This was followed by political instability (50 percent), inflation (42 percent), civil conflicts and inflation (22 percent each) and strikes (11 percent) as the top concerns.

The top "Asia Pacific concerns" meanwhile was consisted of unemployment and inflation (both 56 percent), political instability (28 percent), interest rates (26 percent) and falling property prices (17 percent) as the top five concerns.

Cid noted the high degree of rate differences between some of survey results paint Filipinos’ past experiences.

"The survey results suggest that people remember. These are signs of what people experienced in the past," said Cid.

Consumer confidence among Filipinos meanwhile has improved over the past six months of preceding survey at 108, up by 5 points from the April version of the survey. In that survey, Filipino consumer confidence was only at 103.

Job security continue to be a concern with 47 percent of those surveyed saying it is a major concern in the country, from only 45 percent from the previous survey.

Health concerns meanwhile is increasingly becoming a concern (42 percent) while political stability (23 percent) continue to post a decline in the past five readings.

Cid said the increase in concern in health could a result of the predetermined nature of the survey choices for respondents.

The increasing concern for job security meanwhile is driven by the need for "competitive edge" in the work place, where an employee "has to be careful to do a good job."