Four out of five Filipinos would “probably vote for” a candidate who will continue the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The nationwide poll, the results of which were released yesterday, also found that three of five Filipinos would support a candidate who advocates the full implementation of the reproductive health aw, the enactment of the freedom of information bill and the continuation of “daang matuwid.”
The noncommissioned poll, conducted from Feb. 5 to 7, found that 80 percent of the 1,200 voters surveyed would vote for a candidate who will sustain the 4Ps, the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Aquino administration.
Also known as the conditional cash transfer program (CCT), it aims to provide social assistance and development through monetary support to extremely poor families by investing in their health, nutrition and education.
As of August 2015, CCT beneficiaries totaled 4.4 million families and had covered 10.2 million schoolchildren aged zero to 18 in 79 provinces across the country.
In the Inquirer’s 10-part series enumerating the agenda of the five presidential candidates on pressing national concerns last month, Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas and Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santiago said they intended to continue with the 4Ps.
The SWS also found that 66 percent would vote for a candidate who will fully implement the RH law, while 62 percent would vote for the candidate that will enact FOI bill.
Based on the same Inquirer series, all the candidates—Poe, Santiago, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte—save for Roxas vowed to pass the FOI bill should they be elected President.
Meanwhile, 60 percent said they will support a candidate who will continue the daang matuwid ideology of the Aquino administration.
Fifty-nine percent would favor a candidate who will reimpose the death penalty for heinous crimes. Only Duterte has declared that he is for the return of capital punishment, which was abolished in June 2006 by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
On the peace process, 31 percent would support a candidate who will enact the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), aimed at creating an expanded autonomous region for the minority Muslims in Mindanao that have for decades fought for self-determination.
The 16th Congress failed to pass the proposed BBL, leaving the fate of the measure to the next President. Except for Santiago, all the presidential candidates have promised promised to pass the BBL after conducting a dialogue with stakeholders.
Santiago, who chairs the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said the BBL would require a constitutional amendment or revision because mere legislation will not suffice and will spark Supreme Court litigation.
The survey also found that espousing the following advocacies would make respondents vote for a candidate: defending the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgenders (LGBT), 47 percent; enactment of an antipolitical dynasty law, 47 percent; enactment of a divorce law, 34 percent; and enactment of a law allowing foreign ownership of land in the Philippines, 19 percent.
The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews with validated voters, or registered voters with digital biometrics, and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. Rafael L. Antonio, Inquirer Research
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