More Filipinos support the legalization of divorce in the country, a Church-initiated public survey showed.

The survey conducted by Church-run Radio Veritas revealed that 39% of the 1,200 respondents strongly agree with the proposed measure in Congress, while only 35% strongly dis-agreed. 13% of those surveyed said they somewhat agree while another 13% said they somewhat disagree.

The survey, dubbed “Veritas Truth Survey (VTS),” was conducted from December 2017 until last January. Fr Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, said this survey result is a wake-up call to the Catholic Church. “This is a wake-up call and a big challenge to the Catholic Church, especially since many of the faithful are in favour of the legalization of divorce here in the Philippines, the only country aside from the Vatican without a divorce law,” he lamented. The priest said this means the Church needs to preach more on marriage. Of the female respondents, 43% said they strongly agree with the legalization versus 35% who said they strongly disagree.