3 out of 5 Filipinos want legalization of divorce – SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines – Three out of five Filipinos, or 60 percent, want divorce to be legalized for “irreconcilably separated” couples, the results of a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed on Monday.

The survey, which was conducted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 last year, revealed that 60 percent of 1,800 respondents agree that “Married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again” while 29 percent disagreed and 11 percent undecided on the issue.

Among the respondents, 16 percent have live-in partners, 63 percent are married and 21 percent are single.

SWS also revealed that more men and women are in favor of the proposition, with 62 percent of male respondents (from 52 percent in March 2011) and 57 percent of female respondents (from 49 percent in March 2011) agreeing to the measure.

Support for the approval of the legalization of divorce also rose in all areas, with 67 percent of adult respondents from Metro Manila, 62 percent from Balance Luzon, 55 percent from Visayas and 55 percent from Mindanao all throwing their support for the initiative.

During the last SWS survey on divorce in March 2011, fifty percent of Filipinos favored the legalization of divorce.

SWS cleared that the survey is noncommissioned and was released as a “public service.”

The Philippines and Vatican City are the only two states in the world, which ban the practice of divorce.