Most Filipinos oppose divorce

MAJORITY of Filipinos continue to oppose the passage of a law that would legalize divorce in the country, a survey conducted by OCTA Research showed.

OCTA's Tugon ng Masa third-quarter survey showed that 51 percent of adult Filipinos surveyed were not in favor of passing a law that would legalize divorce, while 41 percent were in favor.

Nine percent were undecided.

Mindanao had the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who favor passing a law that would legalize divorce at 48 percent, followed by the National Capital Region at 46 percent, while the lowest is in the Visayas at 33 percent.

Visayas had the most number of respondents who are not in favor of divorce at 59 percent, while the lowest is in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 39 percent.

NCR had the higher number of respondents who were undecided in passing a bill against divorce, at 15 percent.

Broken down by region, Northern Mindanao had the most respondents who support divorce at 78 percent, while Cagayan Valley had the highest number who are not in favor of divorce at 96 percent.

Younger Filipinos ages 18 to 24 were the most supportive in terms of the passage of a divorce law at 54 percent, while those in the 67 to 74 age group were not in favor. Comes from the 78 percent, Urban respondents were very supportive of the passage of a divorce law, at 43 percent, while 40 percent of both men and women said that they are in favor of passing the law, compared to 50 percent of males and 52 percent of females who are not in favor.

Support for legalizing the measure was also high among adult Filipinos who have college or postgraduate education.

The survey had 1,200 respondents and had a nationwide margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent and plus or minus 6 percent for Metro Manila, Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.