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73% of Pinoys believe religion is very important to the Filipino identity—study

Published Jan 31, 2025 2:40 pm Updated Jan 31, 2025 2:46 pm

A study found that most Pinoys believe that religion, predominantly Christianity, is very important to being truly Filipino.

Pew Research conducted a survey measuring how many people in different countries view their dominant religion as central to their national identity.

In the Philippines, as many as 73% said Christianity was "very" important to the Filipino identity. Some 16% said it was "somewhat" important, 11% said it was "not very" important, while 10% said it was "not at all" significant.

According to the study, this high importance for religion was prevalent in middle-income countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, higher-income countries—like Japan, the United States, Canada, and Italy—showed a smaller emphasis on religion as an aspect of their national identity. Israel, which predominantly practices Judaism, is the only high-income country where at least a third of the people surveyed said it was significant.

Laws and religion

About 51% of Filipinos also believe religious text, in this case the Bible, should have a "great deal" of influence on national laws. The study did not specify which national laws are affected by religion.

Some 45% said, however, that the "will of the people" should take precedence in shaping laws over religious texts.

Religious arguments, however, have been made in discussions surrounding the controversial Senate Bill 1979, or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, and other proposed measures, such as the divorce bill and the SOGIESC Equality bill.

Lawmakers like Rep. Eddie Villanueva expressed disappointment at the divorce bill's approval in the House of Representatives. He cited a Bible verse that says, "God hates divorce." Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said that the divorce bill would "go through the eye of a needle" in the upper house as he "adheres [s] to the teachings of our Catholic Church."

"Formally and legal, [the study] does not have major implications on how the proposed bills should be interpreted," sociologist Athena Charanne Presto told PhilSTAR L!fe. "In terms of the social dimension, malaki yung impact niya kasi that will influence key power holders either supporting or going against policies."

Department of Science and Technology director and sociologist Jayeel Cornelio echoed this, saying the findings "show how influential the biblical worldview is in people's attitudes to policymaking."

"There are many biblical worldviews, some progressive, others conservative," he said, adding that the Pew Research survey provides a wider social context in the country.

"These conservative (fundamentalist) readings of the Bible underpin the moral resistance to progressive policies," Cornelio added.

Ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who leads the National Coalition for the Family and Constitution, said the initiatives in S.B. 1979 "conflict with the core values and beliefs upheld by many Filipino families, particularly those of the Christian and Islamic faith."

"Lalaki din yung challenge na kailangan i-hurdle ng advocates kasi magkakaroon ng mas malaking bullet 'yung mga nag-ko-kontest sa bill na ito," Presto said.

She added that political positions become a proxy for religious values. 

"Against that backdrop, malaki impact ng research report na 'to kasi election na and always very important 'yung midterms kasi it provides a referendum whether the Filipino people still approve the current Marcos Jr. administration and that would also propel the current admin to bolster its preparations for the upcoming 2028 national elections," she said.

The research also showed that Filipinos also value a leader who stands up for people with their religious beliefs. Sharing the same faith is also "very" important for 59% of those surveyed.

The country's previous president Rodrigo Duterte, however, was prominently vocal about his criticism of the Catholic church, despite growing up in the same religion. In the past, he called Catholic bishops "sons of whores" and cursed the traffic caused by Pope Francis' visit to Metro Manila in 2015.

"The Filipinos want someone religious pero politicians like the Duterte family, especially the patriarch, remain popular. Some political positions serve as proxy for religious values. Even if Duterte [did all of that], meron pa siyang ginagawa na proxy for religious values," Presto said.

Other aspects of national identity

Apart from religion, Pew Research also studied whether aspects like language, birthplace, and sharing customs and traditions make one "truly" belong in a country.

80% of Pinoys said speaking the local language, Filipino, is key to national identity. This is the factor that most Filipinos said is important.

Meanwhile, 77% said being born in the Philippines makes one "truly" Pinoy and some 59% agreed that it was sharing the local customs and traditions.

For the study, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey on the role of religion in public life in 36 countries. In countries outside the US, they conducted calls to 41,503 adults from Jan. 5 to May 22, 2024.

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