MANILA, Philippines — Half of the Filipino adult population support legalizing divorce for "irreconcilably separated couples," with only a minority holding dissenting views or remaining undecided on the matter, according to a recent survey.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Saturday released the results after interviewing over 1,500 Filipinos nationwide from March 21 to 25. The respondents were asked to react to the following statement:
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Married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again.
Below were the key findings:
- agree: 50%
- disagree: 31%
- undecided: 17%
While a majority of Filipinos support the legalization of divorce, it should be noted that it went down from 55% in June 2023 and 65% in March 2023.
Net agreement score (% agree minus % disagree) is currently recorded at +19, classified by SWS as "moderately strong." This is down from the "moderately strong" +27 in June 2023 and the record-high "very strong" +44 in March 2023.
Sentiment 'very strong' in live-in arrangements
Over 50% of the respondents in the March 2024 survey were men while the other 50% were comprised of women. More than half of both the men and women were married.
"Net agreement with legalizing divorce was very strong among men and women with live-in partners (+40 and +39, respectively), compared to moderately strong levels among widowed/separated women (+23), men who have never married (+20), women who have never married (+18), widowed/separated men (+12), married women (+12), and married men (+10)," the SWS said.
"When first surveyed by SWS in May 2005, net agreement with legalizing divorce was very strong among women with live-in partners (+48), and moderately strong among men with live-in partners (+23) and widowed/separated men (+19)."
The legalization of divorce used to garner "neutral" support among unmarried men and women (both at +9), while widowed or separated women showed no clear preference (net zero). However, among married individuals, men were slightly less supportive at -3, while it used to be "moderately weak" among married women (-10).
Agreement across regions, religions
Metro Manila had the highest net agreement in the March 2024 survey across the different regions in the country:
- Metro Manila: +40 (very strong)
- Balance Luzon: +20 (moderately strong)
- Visayas: +20 (moderately strong)
- Mindanao: +2 (neutral)
On the other hand, net agreement with divorce seems to be "moderately strong" among the major religions in the Philippines"
- Other Christians: +21 (moderately strong)
- Catholics: +20 (moderately strong)
- Muslims: +11 (moderately strong)
- Iglesia ni Cristo: -10 (moderately weak)
Over 600 residents were surveyed from Balance Luzon while Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao all had 300 each. Sampling error margins are ±2.5% for national percentages, ±4.0% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
"The survey items reported here were non-commissioned. They were done on SWS’s own initiative and released as a public service," the SWS said.
Last week, the absolute divorce bill was approved by the House of Representatives. A number of senators have earlier voiced their support for the bill.