4 of 10 voters favor pro-RH bets

SWS SURVEY

MANILA, Philippines—Four of 10 registered voters, or 38 percent, will vote for candidates who favor the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

The survey found that 68 percent favored giving couples access to all legal means of family planning from public health services.

Another 52 percent found natural family planning methods to be “almost always effective” or “effective most of the time,” according to the survey which was sponsored by the Forum for Family Planning and Development.

The RH bill, which is pending in Congress and is being strongly opposed by the Catholic Church, seeks to promote the use of both artificial and natural family planning methods.

The survey, conducted from Jan. 21 to 24, found that support for pro-RH bill candidates was 39 percent among Catholics and 34 percent among non-Catholics.

Survey question

The survey respondents were asked this question: “In the next election, on the issue of the proposed RH bill, will you vote for candidates who support it, will you vote for candidates who oppose it, or does this not matter to your vote?”

While 38 percent said they would favor candidates who support it, 20 percent said it has no effect on their vote, and 6 percent said they would vote for those who oppose it. However, 35 percent said they do not know the contents of the RH bill.

Across regions, those who said they would vote for pro-RH bill candidates were 43 percent in Metro Manila, 40 percent in Luzon outside Metro Manila, 36 percent in Mindanao, and 34 percent in the Visayas.

The same was true across socio-economic classes: 39 percent in class ABC, 38 percent in class D, and 37 percent in class E.

Major support

Meanwhile, 68 percent of respondents agreed with the statement: “All of the legal means of family planning that a couple might choose to use at a particular time should be available from the government health service.”

There was major support for access to all legal means of family planning, both in terms of regions or socio-economic class. It was 78 percent in Metro Manila, 68 percent in both Luzon outside Metro Manila and the Visayas, and 61 percent in Mindanao. By class, it was 75 percent in class ABC, 68 percent in class D, and 65 percent in class E.

There was also great support for access to legal means of family planning among Catholics (69 percent) and non-Catholics (64 percent).

The survey also asked respondents: “In your opinion, how effective is the natural planning method? Is it almost always effective, effective most of the time, effective only sometimes, or hardly effective?”

Twenty-six percent said it is almost always effective, another 26 percent said it is effective most of the time, 31 percent said it is effective only sometimes, and 16 percent considered it hardly effective.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 2,100 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research