Half of Filipinos afraid to speak out against gov’t — SWS

A BIT more than half of Filipinos feel that it is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration even if it is truthful, according to a July poll by the Social Weather Survey (SWS).

Its National Mobile Phone Survey found that 51% of Filipinos agree with the statement: “It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth.” Of this group, 23% strongly agree while 27% somewhat agree.

On the other hand, 30% of Filipinos disagree with the statement. Fourteen percent of them somewhat disagree, and 17% strongly disagree, correctly rounded.

Eighteen percent of the respondents were undecided.

Overall, this gives a net agreement score of +21, which is represented by the percentage agreed minus the percentage disagree. This result is classified “moderate” by the SWS.

The National Mobile Phone Survey covered a total of 1,555 adult respondents, with an equal male-to-female proportion, from various regions nationwide.

In terms of age, 35- to 44-year-olds comprised the biggest group at 25%, followed by 25- to 34-year-olds at 24%. Filipinos aged 45 to 54 years old and 55 years old and above both made up 19% of the respondents respectively, while 12% were aged 18 to 24 years old.

As for educational attainment, 56% of the respondents were junior high school graduates, 21% were elementary graduates, 17% graduated from college, and 5% were not able to graduate from elementary school. — Mariel Alison L. Aguinaldo