Filipinos divided about going to work, church even after COVID-19 lockdown —SWS

Filipinos are divided about going to work and attending religious activities even after the community quarantine due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ends, Social Weather Stations survey results released Friday showed.

According to SWS national mobile phone survey conducted July 3 to 6, 55% of the employed Filipinos feel comfortable about going to work in case the community quarantine or lockdown ends next month while 40% feel uncomfortable.

Of the respondents, 20% feel very comfortable and 34% fairly comfortable going to work while 26% were not very comfortable and 13% were not at all comfortable.

The survey also showed that 45% of adults feel comfortable while 54% feel uncomfortable about attending religious services, such as going to church or mosque.

Those from Mindanao feel comfortable about going to work and church, 64% and 45%, respectively, while residents of Metro Manila were the least comfortable, 45% and 39%, respectively.

The proportion of those comfortable going to work was higher in men than women.

The SWS also said those comfortable about attending religious services were higher among Muslims, 71%; and members of Iglesia ni Cristo, 58%; compared to Christians other than Roman Catholics and Iglesia ni Cristos, 47%; other non-Christian religions, 42%; and Roman Catholics, 41%.

The survey asked 1,555 adult Filipinos nationwide using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing and has sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, and ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±5% for the Visayas, and ±5% for Mindanao

SWS also said it employed its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data-processing, and analysis, and does not outsource any of its survey operations.—AOL, GMA News