MANILA—A majority of Filipinos agree to legalizing divorce in the country for irreconcilably separated couples, a survey conducted by a social-research institution showed.
Fifty-three percent of adult Filipinos back a divorce law for separated married couples who can no longer mend their differences, according to results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted between March 25 to 28, 2017, and December 8 to 16, 2017.
In the survey covering nearly 9 months, 30% of Filipinos strongly agree to a divorce law, while 23% somewhat agree.
Meanwhile, 32% disagree to such a law, setting the "net agreement" at plus-21.
The SWS rates the net agreement on the issue — or the difference between the percentages of those who agree and those who don't — as "moderately strong."
The release on Friday of the survey results comes after a House of Representatives committee submitted for plenary deliberations a bill legalizing divorce in the country.
The Philippines is one of only 2 states in the world, besides the Vatican, where divorce is outlawed. Annulments are legal, but the process could take years and cost at least P250,000.
In a survey conducted in 2005, 43% supported legalizing divorce and 45% disagreed to it for a "neutral" net agreement of minus-2.
Net agreement on legalizing divorce was "very strong" among women with live-in partners followed by men with live-in partners, and widowed or separated men, the recent survey showed.