MANILA, Philippines -- Two in every five Filipino adults (40 percent) -- or about 21 million --believe in Cupid, the Roman god of love, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations.

The Fourth Quarter of 2007 Social Weather Survey also found that among those who believed in Cupid, over four out of five (85 percent) believed that they had already been struck by “Cupid’s arrow.”

Cupid is often depicted as a winged child who carries a bow and quiver full of arrows.

The survey specifically asked respondents: “Do you believe in Cupid?”

Belief in Cupid reached 49 percent in the Visayas, 47 percent in Metro Manila and 36 percent each in the balance of Luzon and Mindanao.

More believers in Class E

“It is relatively higher among Class E, with 46 percent, compared to Class D, with 39 percent, and Class ABC, with 36 percent,” SWS said in a statement released Wednesday.

Over half of those with live-in partners (51 percent) said they believed in Cupid, compared to those who were married (40 percent) or among those who are single or never married (37 percent).

Among women, about three in five (62 percent) with live-in partners said they believed in Cupid, compared to 42 percent among married women and 31 percent among single or never-married women.

Among men of different status, however, belief in Cupid hardly varied. It was 43 percent both among men who were single or never-married and men with live-in partners, while it was 38 percent among married men.

Meanwhile, the proportion of those “already struck by Cupid’s arrow” was higher in Luzon outside of Metro Manila (88 percent), in the Visayas (85 percent) and in Metro Manila (84 percent), compared to Mindanao (78 percent).

“Across the board, majority of those who believe in Cupid say they have already been struck by his arrow,” SWS noted.

Noncommissioned

The noncommissioned survey was conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2007, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research