More Pinoys back divorce

CEBU, Philippines — Although the result is lower than in previous polls, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that more Filipinos still support the legalization of divorce for irreconcilably separated couples.

Conducted from March 21 to 25, the survey found that 50 percent of the respondents support the statement, “Married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again.”

This is composed of 28 percent who “strongly agree” to the statement, and another 22 percent who said they “somewhat agree” with it. On the other hand, some 31 percent disagreed with the test statement (12 percent somewhat disagree and 20 percent strongly disagree), while 17 percent were undecided.

According to SWS, the latest survey resulted in a net agreement score – obtained by subtracting those who disagree from those who agree – of +19, which is classified as “moderately strong.”

The net agreement score on the proposal to legalize divorce went down from “moderately strong” +27 in June 2023 (55 percent agree, 27 percent disagree) and the record-high “very strong” +44 in March 2023 (65 percent agree, 21 percent disagree).

Support for divorce is higher than those who oppose them among men and women respondents, the survey found.

For the men, it was highest among those with live-in partners (58 percent agree, 19 percent disagree); followed by those who never married (52 percent agree, 32 percent disagree); single, widowed or separated (45 percent agree, 33 percent disagree); and married (45 percent agree, 36 percent disagree).

For women respondents, those with live-in partners also had the highest support for legalization of divorce (61 percent agree, 23 percent disagree); followed by those who never married (53 percent agree, 32 percent disagree); single, widowed or separated (52 percent agree, 29 percent disagree); and married (45 percent agree, 35 percent disagree).

Across areas, support for divorce was highest among respondents in Metro Manila (62 percent agree, 23 percent disagree); followed by those in the rest of Luzon (51 percent agree, 31 percent disagree); Visayas (48 percent agree, 28 percent disagree); and Mindanao (42 percent agree, 40 percent disagree).

The survey had 1,500 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percent for national percentages. — (FREEMAN)