MANILA, Philippines — More than 86 percent of Filipino adults who pay for streaming services consider their subscriptions worth the money despite the 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) imposed on digital services, according to a survey by Momentum Research.
The August 2026 National Momentum Survey found that 86.7 percent of streaming subscribers considered their payments “sulit,” or worth the cost, while 13.3 percent said their subscriptions were not worth the money.
The findings come as lawmakers seek to repeal Republic Act 12023, which imposes a 12 percent VAT on digital services, including streaming platforms. The law took effect in 2025.
Minority lawmakers at the House of Representatives filed House Bill 7844 earlier this year seeking to repeal the measure.
The survey also found that streaming platforms have overtaken traditional television as the more popular way of watching shows and movies among Filipino adults.
Some 43.2 percent of respondents said they watched programs on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and YouTube, compared with 30.2 percent who relied on traditional television, including cable, satellite and free-to-air services.
Another 13.5 percent watched on both streaming platforms and traditional television.
Including those who use both, 56.7 percent of respondents watched shows and movies through streaming services, while 43.7 percent watched on traditional television.
The remaining respondents said they did not watch series or movies (6.1 percent), used neither of the listed options (6.4 percent), or were unsure (0.6 percent).
Subscriptions worth it across income groups
The perception that streaming subscriptions offer value for money was consistent across income groups, with subscribers from poorer households reporting the highest proportion of positive responses.
The survey found that 88.6 percent of subscribers from poor households considered their subscriptions worth the cost, compared with 85 percent among low-income households and 85.1 percent among middle-income households.
Only 11.4 percent of subscribers from poor households said their subscriptions were not worth the money. The corresponding figures were 15 percent for low-income households and 14.9 percent for middle-income households.
Momentum Research defined poor households as those with estimated monthly household incomes below P13,873, low-income households as those earning between P13,873 and P27,746, and middle-income households as those earning between P27,746 and P166,476.
Gen Z most satisfied
By generation, Generation Z subscribers were the most likely to consider streaming subscriptions worth their cost, with 91.9 percent expressing a positive assessment.
They were followed by Generation X at 87.8 percent, millennials at 82.8 percent, and baby boomers and the Silent Generation at 78.1 percent.
Older subscribers were also more likely to say their subscriptions were not worth the money. Some 21.9 percent of baby boomers and members of the Silent Generation gave a negative assessment, compared with 17.2 percent of millennials, 12.2 percent of Generation X and 8.1 percent of Generation Z.
Regional differences
Metro Manila recorded the highest proportion of streaming subscribers who considered their subscriptions worth the money, at 97.6 percent.
The Visayas followed at 94.6 percent, Mindanao at 88.5 percent, and the rest of Luzon at 80.7 percent.
In contrast, 19.3 percent of subscribers in the rest of Luzon said their subscriptions were not worth the cost, compared with 11.5 percent in Mindanao, 5.4 percent in the Visayas and 2.4 percent in Metro Manila.
Momentum Research cautioned that margins of error were larger for estimates broken down by demographic and regional groups, particularly those with smaller sample sizes.
The National Momentum Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,487 Filipino adults nationwide from Aug. 18 to 23, 2026.
It has a national margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
