MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Tuesday welcomed the results of an opinion poll showing majority of Filipinos welcoming the New Year with hope, even as the latest reading was lower than the record-breaking optimism recorded last year.

According to a December 16 to 19 Social Weather Stations survey of 1,440 adults, 92 percent of respondents said they will enter 2019 with optimism, four points below the record-high 96 percent in the previous year.

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On the other hand, Filipinos entering the New Year with fear increased by four points to 8 percent.

“We thank our people for this universal feeling of optimism under the Duterte administration. This proves that the demolition job and the climate of negativity depicted by the President's critics and detractors, better described as the noisy majority, have little or no impact to the silent but much greater majority,” the Palace said of the SWS’ findings.

“Indeed, there is much to celebrate. The country's marcoeconomic fundamentals remain solid and robust. There is construction everywhere in the National Capital Region with the President's Build-Build-Build program already in its implementation stage. Crime rate is down and people now feel safer,” it added.

For the first time in 2018, headline inflation in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies cooled down to a four-month low of 6 percent in November. Year-to-date, inflation averaged 5.2 percent, still above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2-4 percent target range.

Stubbornly high inflation and tighter monetary policy have already weighed on consumer spending, which has traditionally been the driving force behind growth in the Philippines, and crimped economic expansion to a three-year low of 6.1 percent in the third quarter.

The country’s budget chief expect the Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure program, which aims to supercharge economic growth, to slow down in early 2019 as the government operates on a re-enacted budget that will leave new projects unfunded until Congress approves a new outlay.

Meanwhile, a third quarter 2018 SWS poll found 6.1 percent — or an estimated 1.4 million — families reported they were victim of common crimes like robbery, break-ins, car theft and physical violence in six months. This was 0.7 percent higher than the previous quarter’s print, and unchanged from the same period a year ago.

A separate SWS survey taken last June showed 78 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with the government’s war on drugs, while 13 percent were dissatisfied, for a net satisfaction score of +65, classified by the pollster as “very good.”

“As we enter 2019, we remain confident that our people will continue to rally behind the government towards genuine change and prosperity,” the Palace said.

“We could only wish that skeptics finally see the good in the persistent efforts of the President for our nation, given that the results of which will not solely benefit his supporters but the entire Filipino community, including them,” it added.