47% agree it’s dangerous to criticize gov’t — SWS

MANILA – Nearly half of adult Filipinos— or 47 percent— agree that “it is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth,” according to the results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Monday.

Only 26 percent disagreed with the statement while 27 percent were undecided, based on the poll conducted from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14, 2022, and released a week after World Press Freedom Day.

Net agreement

Net agreement (agree minus disagree) remained “moderate,” but was + 20, down from +24 when a similar poll was conducted in December 2021. By area, the net agreement score was highest in Metro Manila at +28, followed by the Visayas at +23, Luzon outside Metro Manila at + 21, and Mindanao at +13.

Compared to the December 2021 results, the net agreement score fell in all areas except in Mindanao, where it rose by six points from “neutral” at +7 to “moderate” at +13. The highest drop in agreement score was in Metro Manila, from “strong” at +41 to “moderate” at +28.

Net agreement score stayed at “moderate” levels of + 24 among nonelementary graduates, + 18 among elementary graduates and +24 among junior high school graduates. It dropped among college students, from “moderate” at +27 to “neutral” +4.

The SWS survey used faceto-face interviews with 1,200 adult respondents and had a margin of error of plus-orminus 2.8 percent for national percentages, plus-or-minus 5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.