SWS: 47% of Filipinos think publishing anything critical of gov’t is ‘dangerous’

MANILA, Philippines — Almost half, or 47 percent, of Filipinos agree that it is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the current administration, according to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from December 10 to 14 last year.

The survey results, which were released in line with the recent celebration of World Press Freedom Day, showed that 47 percent of adult Filipinos believe it is dangerous to publish critical comments about the government – 19 percent of them “strongly agree,” while 28 percent “somewhat agree.”

The remaining 26 percent think otherwise (12 percent of them “strongly disagree,” 14 percent “somewhat disagree”), while 27 percent were undecided.

The agency said that this translates to a net agreement score of a “moderate” +20, which is four points below the +24 (46 percent agree, 22 percent disagree) in December 2021

According to the SWS terminology for net agreement, +50 and above means “extremely strong”; +30 to +49 (very strong); +10 to +29 (moderately strong); +9 to -9 (neutral); -10 to -29 (moderately weak); -30 to -49, (very weak); -50 and below (extremely weak).

The net agreement with the statement fell in Metro Manila and Visayas but rose in Mindanao. Metro Manila recorded the highest score (+28), followed by the Visayas (+23), Balance Luzon (+21), and Mindanao (+13).

In December 2021, the net agreement score in Metro Manila was highest (+41 or 59 percent agree, 18 percent disagree); followed by Visayas (+36 or 54 percent agree, 18 percent disagree);  Balance Luzon (+23 or 44 percent agree, 21 percent disagree); and Mindanao (+7 or 36 percent agree, 28 percent disagree, correctly rounded)

The survey results also revealed that the net agreement with the statement was at moderate levels among graduates of non-elementary (+24), elementary (+18), and junior high school (+24), while neutral levels among college graduates (+4).

The SWS said it conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide – 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with sampling error margins of ±2.8 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

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