51 percent against passage of divorce law – OCTA poll

MANILA, Philippines — A slim majority of Filipinos is against the passage of a law that would legalize divorce in the country, a survey conducted by the OCTA Research group showed.

Results of the Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 survey released on Dec. 5 found that 51 percent of the respondents are against the passage of a divorce law.

Some 40 percent said they were in favor of it, while nine percent were ambivalent.

Across areas, support for a law legalizing divorce was higher among respondents in Metro Manila (46 percent in favor, 39 percent against) and Mindanao (48 percent in favor, 47 percent against).

Meanwhile, support was lower among those in Balance Luzon (37 percent in favor, 54 percent against) and the Visayas (33 percent in favor, 59 percent against).

Across socio-economic classes, there are more respondents who are against the divorce law, with the highest among class ABC (29 percent in favor, 70 percent against), followed by those in class E (31 percent in favor, 51 percent against) and class D (42 percent in favor, 50 percent against).

Support for divorce was higher among younger age groups, particularly those between 18 to 24 (54 percent in favor, 34 percent against) and 25 to 34 (49 percent in favor, 44 percent against).

Those against a divorce law was higher in the other age groups: 35 to 44 (34 percent in favor, 58 percent against), 45 to 54 (46 percent in favor, 47 percent against), 55 to 64 (37 percent in favor, 51 percent against), 65 to 74 (19 percent in favor, 78 percent against), and 75 and above (eight percent in favor, 67 percent against).

In terms of educational attainment, support for divorce was higher among college graduates (47 percent in favor, 42 percent against), while it was the other way around for the others: vocational (35 percent in favor, 64 percent against), high school (44 percent in favor, 47 percent against) and no formal education or elementary (25 percent in favor, 64 percent against).

The non-commissioned Tugon ng Masa survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.