Two out of five or 43 percent of Filipinos believe that “there hasn’t been much real improvement in the position of Muslims in the country,” the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll showed.
Meanwhile, 24 percent of the 1,200 respondents polled from June 5 to 8, 2015 disagreed as 30 percent remained undecided, resulting in a moderate net agreement of +18.
A slightly bigger number, at 47 percent, said the position of Muslims in Philippine society should be improved, even through preferential treatment or giving preference to a person based on a specific characteristic such as race or religion.
Only 28 percent disagreed with preferential treatment while 24 percent were undecided.
Agreement to the statement, “In the past few years there hasn’t been much real improvement in the position of Muslims in this country,” was highest in Balance of Luzon (+20, 43% agree, 23% disagree) and Metro Manila (+20, 45% agree, 25% disagree). This was followed by Visayas at +17 (43% agree, 26% disagree) and Mindanao at +14 (44% agree, 29% disagree).
Agreement to preferential treatment was also highest in Balance Luzon (+23, 48% agree, 25% disagree) and Metro Manila (+19 , 46% agree, 27% disagree). At a close third is Mindanao (+17, 48% agree, 31% disagree), and Visayas (+8, 43% agree, 35% disagree).
What do Muslims think?
According to the SWS survey, more than half of Muslims surveyed (64%) were disappointed with their position in society. Only 13 percent said they weren’t, resulting in a “very strong” +51 net agreement rating.
Christians also had a “strong” net agreement rating of +31 (50% agree, 19% disagree) while Catholics were at a “moderate” +16 (42% agree, 26% disagree), and Iglesia Ni Cristos at a “poor” -20 (24% agree, 44% disagree).
The push for preferential treatment was even higher among Muslims (+82, 86% agree, 5% disagree). Coming at a far second were other Christians at +17 (47% agree, 30% disagree), Catholics at +15 (44% agree, 29% disagree), and Iglesia Ni Cristos at +10 (43% agree, 33% disagree).
The results were higher for Muslims but lower for people following other religions when compared to the same survey conducted a year ago.
The poll further revealed a correlation between the two statement, saying, “Net agreement with ‘We should make every possible effort to improve the position of Muslims even if it means giving them preferential treatment’ was very strong among those who agree with ‘In the past few years there hasn’t been much real improvement in the position of Muslims in this country.’”
The survey is non-commissioned. It has sampling error margins of 3% for national percentages, and 6% each for Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The release of the results coincided with Eid’l Fitr or the Feast of Ramadan. AU
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