Adult Filipinos say health is their top urgent personal concern—survey
The most urgent personal concern for adult Filipinos is staying healthy and avoiding illnesses, a recent survey found.
OCTA Research shared its findings from its Tugon ng Masa poll, where it asked 1,200 male and female Pinoys aged 18 and above about their top 3 personal concerns they'd like to happen soonest in their lives.
From a list of five concerns, 65% said it is to stay healthy and avoid illness. Meanwhile, 45% said it's to finish schooling or be able to provide schooling for our children, 44% noted it's to be able to have enough to eat every day, and 39% shared it's to have a secure and well-paying job or source of income. Lastly, 38% said their urgent personal concern is to avoid being a victim of any serious crime.
The survey also listed the concerns by social class. Classes ABC (81%), D (66%), and E (71%) all prioritize their health.
For Class ABC, avoiding being a victim of a crime is second at 65%, followed by having enough to eat at 37%, finishing school at 26%, and having a secure job at 25%.
Priorities change for Class D who value finishing schooling secondly (48%) and having enough to eat thirdly (45%). Having a secure job comes fourth (40%), while avoiding being a victim (36%) is last.
For Class E, having enough to eat is the second most urgent concern (47%), followed by having a secure job (43%). Both finishing school and avoiding being a victim logged 36% of respondents.
The recent survey was conducted from Dec. 3 to 11, 2025. It has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.
Issues Marcos must act on
In the same nationwide survey, OCTA Research asked Pinoys their top 3 most important issues the Marcos Jr. administration should act on immediately.
Improving or increasing the wages of workers got first place at 45% and controlling the price increase of basic goods and services came second with 41%.
Meanwhile, 30% said they want access to affordable rice, vegetables, and meat.
Some 29% think graft and corruption in the government should immediately be fixed. A previous survey by Pulse Asia revealed that 97% of Filipinos believe that corruption in the government is widespread.
On the other hand, 28% emphasized that the government should provide free quality education.