SWS: Half of Pinoys favor divorce for separated couples

The number of Filipinos who favor divorce has increased by seven percent since 2005, according to the result of a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. Conducted last March 4 to 7 on 1,200 adults nationwide, the survey showed half of Filipinos now agree that married couples who have separated and cannot reconcile should be allowed to divorce — an increase from the 43 percent recorded in May 2005. A total of 33 percent of the respondents, meanwhile, opposed divorce during the March elections—a decline of 11 percentage points from the 44 percent who said “no" to divorce in May 2005. The same survey also revealed a shift from opposition or neutrality to support for divorce in all areas in the country: Metro Manila (from 44 percent to 52 percent), Luzon (from 51 percent to 54 percent), Visayas (32 percent to 50 percent) and Mindanao (36 percent to 44 percent).

Respondents from Classes D (poor) and E (very poor) also showed an increase in support of divorce, with 52 percent and 45 percent of the respondents in the March 2011 SWS poll saying “yes" to allowing separated couples to be allowed to legally marry again. The SWS poll results were released on the same day a panel in the House of Representatives started preliminary discussions on the divorce bill. The Philippines remains to be the only country outside Vatican without a divorce legislation, after the staunchly Catholic European state of Malta approved to introduce divorce in the country via a referendum last Sunday (Manila time). The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with randomly selected respondents. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percent. — KBK, GMA News