MANILA, Philippines – Guns cause crime and should be controlled. This was the take-away from the March 2013 Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted by Pulse Asia released on Tuesday, April 23.

According to the survey, 67% of Filipinos surveyed consider guns and their proliferation to be a major cause of crime and violence in the country. This idea is echoed by most Filipinos across geographic areas, with figures ranging from 57% in Mindanao to 80% in Metro Manila, though non-majority levels of agreement with this view are recorded in Central Visayas (46%) and Northern Mindanao (42%).

The survey also notes that 3 out of 4 Filipinos (75%) support a policy of gun control in the Philippines. People in Metro Manila are more inclined to support gun control than people in Mindanao and the Visayas. Support for a gun control policy ranges from 66% to 87% across geographic areas and from 72% to 81% across socio-economic classes.

Most Filipinos also prefer a law that specifies law enforcers and licensed private security guards as those allowed to carry firearms in public places, rather than one that allows all holders of licensed firearms to carry their weapons anywhere they please (78% versus 22%). The report mentions that the first law is preferred by a majority of respondents in every geographic area and socio-economic class.

The Pulse Asia survey’s fieldwork was done with a “sample of 1,800 representative adults, 18 years old and above” from March 16 to 20, 2013 using face-to-face interviews.

It is also important to note that Filipinos at the time were preoccupied by a number of national and world issues, such as the hostilities in Sabah, the filing of multiple murder charges against 14 police officers and 11 soldiers for the Atimonan killings, and the election of a new pope, among others.

– Rappler.com