Nine out of 10 Filipinos have access to toilets, but majority of them still use the pour-flush system, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on sanitation.
Conducted from Dec. 13 to Dec. 16 last year, the survey found that 90 percent of households in the country have their own toilets, 6 percent use shared toilets and 4 percent have no access to toilet facilities.
Of the households that have their own toilets, 82 percent have pour-flush or locally known as “de buhos,” a manual sanitation system wherein the water is poured in by the user. Only 7 percent have flush toilets.
By area, pour-flush toilets are most common in Metro Manila (85 percent), followed by Luzon outside Metro Manila (83 percent), the Visayas (82 percent) and Mindanao (77 percent).
Across socioeconomic classes, flush toilets are significantly higher among Class ABC (31 percent) than among Class D (6 percent) and Class E (2 percent).
Shared toilets are prevalent among poorer households.
The survey used in-person interviews of 1,200 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
It was released days after the celebration of World Toilet Day on Nov. 19 that raises awareness of some 4.2 billion people living without access to safe sanitation.
Around 50.3 million Filipinos do not have access to safely managed sanitation services, or improved toilet facilities.
Of the number, some 24 million either use limited and unimproved toilet systems or do not have access to toilets at all.—INQUIRER RESEARCH INQ