THE Social Weather Stations said legalizing divorce for irreconcilably separated couples has the support of 50 percent of adult Filipinos, while another 31 percent disagreed with it. The survey also showed that 17 percent were undecided on the matter.
The survey was conducted from March 21 to 25, 2024, and the respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with this statement: “Married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again.”
The SWS said in a statement that the results show “moderately strong” support for divorce as the net agreement score was +19.
But it also said that this is down from the “moderately strong” net agreement score in June 2023 (+27), and the “very strong” score in March 2023 (+44).
The survey showed that support for divorce was strongest among men and women with live-in partners.
39 percent of men and 34 percent of women with live-in partners “strongly agreed” with divorce, while 19 percent of men and 27 percent of women with the same status “somewhat agreed.”
This means the net agreement with legalizing divorce (+40 for men and +39 for women) was “very strong” among those cohabiting with partners, the SWS said.
On the other hand, support for divorce was “moderately strong” among widowed/separated women and men, men and women who have never married, and married women and men, as published on abogado.com
The survey also found that those in Metro Manila still had “very strong” support for divorce in March 2024, though the net agreement (+40) showed a downward trend based on numbers from the March 2023 (+49) and June 2023 (+44) surveys.
Support has become “neutral” in Mindanao (+2), and remains “moderately strong” in the rest of Luzon (+20) and the Visayas (+20).
Support for divorce in Mindanao has declined from “very strong” (+41) in March 2023 to “moderately strong” in June 2023 (+20).
The SWS said there is “moderately strong” backing for divorce among Other Christians, Catholics, and Muslims, and “moderately weak” support from members of Iglesia ni Cristo.
It also said net agreement among Catholics has gone down to +20 in March 2024, from a “very strong” +46 in March 2023 and +30 in June 2023.
Support also went down among Muslim respondents, as it was +11 in March 2024, down from an “extremely strong” +53 in March 2023 and a “moderately strong” +18 in June 2023.
In May, the House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading the bill allowing Absolute Divorce in the Philippines.
