Divorce divides down middle —SWS

About 50 percent of Filipino adults nationwide are in favor of legalizing divorce for irreconcilably separated couples, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Saturday.

The SWS asked respondents if “married couples who have separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so they can legally marry again.”

The survey results showed that 50 percent agreed, 31 percent disagreed, and 17 percent were undecided about the statement.

According to SWS, this was a 5-percent decline from the SWS survey in June 2023 where 55 percent agreed and the record-high 65 percent in March 2023.

Marriage mere option

SWS noted that the net agreement on legalizing divorce was very strong among men and women with live-in partners — positive 40 and positive 39, respectively — compared to moderately strong levels among widowed or separated women, men who have never married, women who have never married, widowed/separated men, married women, and married men.

The survey also found that support for the legalization of divorce is very strong in Metro Manila, with moderately strong levels in Balance Luzon, while the Visayas and Mindanao are neutral.

SWS noted that there was a steady decline from the record-high very strong agreement in March 2023 to moderately strong in June 2023 in Mindanao.

In terms of religion, the net agreement on legalizing divorce was at moderately strong levels among Catholics, other Christians, and Muslims, while it was moderately weak among members of the Iglesia ni Cristo.