30 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy Figure 1. CHANGES IN THE RESPONDENTS' PERSONAL QUALITY OF LIFE April 1984 to May 2011 / Philippines Sources: April 1984: Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP); July 1985: Bishop Businessmen Conference (BBC); May 1986 - October 1987: Social Weather Stations/Ateneo de Manila University (SWS/AdMU); March 1988 - October 1998: Social Weather Stations; June 1999 - May 2011: Pulse Asia, Inc. In the past 27 years, only two instances are recorded of Filipinos reporting QOL improvements and feeling optimistic for the coming year, once in May 1986 and again in March 1987—both times with Corazon Aquino as newlyinstalled president. Marcos had just been put to flight in February 1986 and Filipinos were euphoric, gung-ho for what they believed the future would bring; in March 1987, their new, once again democratic constitution had just been adopted and they looked forward to the coming national elections. After these two inspirational moments, Filipinos reverted to being QOL "losers" and to suffering the condition for over two decades to date. The last decade, the Arroyo administration's watch, had been most difficult, with people reaching record depths in July 2008 in both loser status and in pessimism (See Figure 2). However, the election to the presidency of former President Corazon Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr., picked up the flagging spirits of Filipinos and they again began to be hopeful. By October, 2010, even as they continued to acknowledge deterioration in their family's QOL, hopes revived and people's optimism registered nationwide. A year after President ("Pnoy") Aquino's electoral victory, net optimism remains but this time – in