54% of Filipinos will still wear face masks despite eased COVID-19 rules – SWS

One in two Filipinos still prefer to wear face masks while they are outside of their homes, even after the government relaxed COVID-19 regulations, according to a survey by Social Weather Stations.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued an executive order last October making mask-wearing voluntary except on public transport, healthcare facilities, and medical transport vehicles.

The December 10–14, 2022 survey, which involved 1,200 adult respondents, found that 91% supported the measure, but 54% said they will always use a face mask when leaving the house.

Ninety-one percent of household heads also agreed with the voluntary wearing of face masks for children in face-to-face classes, and 81% said they will always make their child wear a face mask when going to school.

The poll was conducted through face-to-face interviews and had a sampling error margin of ± 2.8%.