57% of Pinoys think Christmas more important than Easter

source: abs-cbn

MANILA, Philippines - More than half of adult Filipinos believe Christmas is more important than Easter Sunday, a Social Weather Stations survey revealed Wednesday.

The survey, conducted last March 4-7, 2011, asked 1,200 respondents the question: "In your opinion, which between the two is the more important day for you? Christmas, or Easter Sunday?"

A total of 57% of respondents chose Christmas, 36% chose Easter Sunday, 4% did not choose any, and 2% had no answer.

Majorities of 65% in the Visayas, 60% in Mindanao, 55% in Balance Luzon, and 52% in Metro Manila chose Christmas as a more important day than Easter Sunday

Preference for Christmas over Easter Sunday also tends to be higher among the lower classes: it is 61% in class E and 57% in class D or the masa, compared to 51% in classes ABC.

By age group, majorities of 67% among 18-24, 64% among 25-34, 57% among 45-54, and 51% among 35-44 chose Christmas over Easter Sunday.

However, opinion is split among 55 years old and above where 50% chose Christmas and 46% chose Easter Sunday.

Majorities of 58% among women and 57% among men chose Christmas as a more important day than Easter Sunday.

Preference by religion

The March 2011 survey sample had 94% Christians (consisting of 82% Roman Catholic, 3% Iglesia ni Cristo, 1% Protestant, 0.4% Aglipayan, and 8% other Christian religions) and 5% non-Christians (consisting of 5% Islam and 0.4% other non-Christian religions).

Among Christian religions, majorities of 61% among Roman Catholics, 61% among Aglipayans, and 57% among other Christians chose Christmas as a more important day than Easter Sunday.

Opinion is mixed among Iglesia ni Cristo members where 37% chose Easter Sunday, 34% chose neither of the two, and 24% chose Christmas.

A majority 60% of Muslims did not choose any of the two, 19% chose Christmas, and 5% chose Easter Sunday.

Among other non-Christians, a majority 79% chose Christmas and the remaining 21% chose Easter Sunday.

The March 2011 Social Weather Survey was conducted from March 4-7, 2011 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The survey used sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for area percentages.

source: abs-cbn