9 out of 10 Filipinos OK with voluntary face mask use – poll

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) — Nine out of 10 Filipino adults support the voluntary wearing of face masks, according to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The nationwide poll, conducted from Dec. 10 to 14, 2022 with 1,200 adult respondents, showed that 91% of respondents approve of Executive Order No. 7 Series 2022, which allows the voluntary use of face masks indoors and outdoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 64% of respondents said they “strongly approve,” 27% said they “somewhat approve,” 3% “somewhat disapprove,” and 1% “strongly disapprove.”

On the other hand, 54% of the participants said they will always use a face mask when leaving the house. The 22% said they wear one “most of the time,” 15% “sometimes,” 8% “rarely,” and 1% said they never use a face mask outside.

Face masks for children in face-to-face classes

The non-commissioned survey also revealed that 91% of Filipino household heads agreed with the voluntary use of face mask in face-to-face classes, while 5% disagreed.

Meanwhile, four out of five households with children attending face-to-face classes said they will always make their child wear face masks in school.

According to the SWS poll, 81% of Filipino household heads said they will “always” make their child use a face mask during class, 11% said “most of the time,” 3% said “rarely,” and 0.5% “never” send their child to school without a face mask.

The poll was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 300 Filipino adults each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The SWS said the sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.