Manila, Oct 3 (IANS) Inflation, continues to be the leading urgent national concern among Filipinos, according to a nationwide survey by an independent polling firm released on Tuesday.

In a September 10 to 14 survey, pollster Pulse Asia Research Inc. said that 74 per cent of the 1,200 adults expressed concern about the need to control the rising prices of essential commodities in the Philippines, reports Xinhua news agency.

Except for the 11 pe rcent uptick in the level of concern regarding the need to control the rising prices of basic goods from June to September 2023, the survey found that public opinion about urgent national matters "is virtually constant during this period".

"Year-on-year, concern about inflation becomes more pronounced (+8 percentage points) while the levels of concern go down in relation to job creation (-8 percentage points) and poverty reduction (-9 percentage points)," the survey said.

The second and third urgent concerns are increasing the workers' salary (49 percent) and creating more jobs (27 per cent).

Filipinos also expressed concerns about reducing poverty, fighting graft and corruption in government, fighting criminality, resolving the problem of involuntary hunger, and assisting farmers.

On Monday, Pulse Asia reported that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s approval rating declined by 15 percentage points to 65 percent in September from 80 per cent in June amid elevated prices of commodities, especially rice.

The government reported that inflation accelerated to 5.3 per cent in August after a six-month slowdown due to increases in food and fuel prices.