A survey conducted by the Social Weather Survey (SWS) nationwide showed that 45 percent of adult Filipinos believe that speaking out against President Rodrigo Duterte was “dangerous.”

SWS said only 25 percent of the adult respondents said it is not dangerous to speak out against Duterte.

”The June 2021 survey also found 45 percent agreeing (17 percent strongly agree, 29 percent somewhat agree, correctly rounded), 28 percent undecided, and 25 percent disagreeing (13 percent somewhat disagree, 12 percent strongly disagree) with the statement, ‘It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth’,” the SWS said.

SWS said the net agreement score for that issue was “moderate” or +20, which was similar to the moderate +18 in May 2021, following an 18-point decline from the very strong +49 in November 2020.

Meanwhile, the sentiment that it was dangerous to speak out against Duterte was highest in Metro Manila.

“Net agreement with the statement, ‘It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth,’ was highest in Metro Manila (+28), followed by the Visayas (+22), Balance Luzon (+21), and Mindanao (+12),” it added.

By educational level, net agreement with fears of speaking against Duterte was higher among college graduates (+37) than among junior high school graduates (+17), elementary graduates (+19), and non-elementary graduates (+14).

The latest survey of SWS used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide equally distributed Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.