The following question was asked in an SWS nationwide survey of Filipino adults in March 2006:
“All systems of justice make mistakes, but which do you think is worse—to convict an innocent person, or to let a guilty person go free?”
The survey found 44 percent calling it worse to convict someone innocent, 24 percent calling it worse to let someone guilty go free, and 32 percent unable to choose between the two. Being the dominant answer, the 44 percent may be called a plurality; it is not a majority since it is less than half of the population.
SWS had these results as early as three years ago, of course, but it was only last week in Vienna, when the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) gave out a report on its 2006 survey on “Attitudes Towards the Role of Government,” that we discovered that the Philippine percentage calling it worse to convict the innocent (consider whistleblower Jun Lozada, recently arrested on the charge of perjury), is by far the lowest among the 20 ISSP countries with data given in the report.
The next lowest is Great Britain (not United Kingdom, which is a different geographical area) where a majority of 52 percent call it worse to convict the innocent. It is followed by Russia and Hungary, where 54 percent call it worse, and then New Zealand, Canada and Australia, where just below 60 percent call it worse.
In Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the United States, the percentages are between 60 and 69. In the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Latvia and Sweden, they are between 70 and 79. The country most concerned about an injustice done to the innocent is Norway, at 84 percent.
In fact, only in the Philippines do the ISSP surveys find a mere plurality calling it a worse miscarriage of justice to convict the innocent than to set the guilty free. This discovery is an example of how comparison with others teaches us so much about ourselves.
Not a case of either white or black. Note that even such a seemingly simple survey question can be answered not only in “white” or “black,” but also in “grey.” That we Filipinos have the smallest percentage of white answers does not imply that we have the largest percentage of black answers; we do not.
Actually, we are tied with the Canadians for the seventh-largest proportion calling it a worse mistake to let a guilty person go free—consider alleged fertilizer scam artist Jocelyn Bolante, whose mobility does not seem to be under restraint. There are six countries with higher percentages, namely Hungary and the United States, both at 30, plus Great Britain, Australia, Israel, and New Zealand.
What the Philippines does have is the largest proportion of grey answers, meaning our 32 percent who cannot say if it is worse to convict the innocent or worse to let the guilty go free. We have proportionally the most people who say, in effect, that these two miscarriages of justice are equally bad.
Attitudes towards the government. Here a few more instances where Filipinos are distinctive.
In the same ISSP survey of 2006, 94 percent of Filipinos said that it definitely is, or else probably should be, the responsibility of the government to keep prices under control. We are second only to Russians in having such high expectations of government. But in most countries, including the United States, those with these expectations are about three-fourths. At the low end, including Canada and the Czech Republic, only two-thirds consider price control is a task of government.
In the ISSP survey of 2006, 90 percent of Filipinos said that it definitely is, or else probably should be, the responsibility of the government to provide a job for everyone who needs one. If you aren’t surprised, it’s probably because you are Filipino yourself. The Philippines is tied (with Hungary) for the fourth-highest proportion among 33 countries with data on this item, exceeded only by Venezuela, South Africa and Croatia.
In several countries, however, those who think the government should be responsible for providing jobs to the unemployed are in the minority—less than half of the people in Japan and Switzerland, only two-fifths in Australia and the United States, and, at the low end, only one-third in Canada and New Zealand.
The ISSP survey of 2006 finds that the Philippines is one of only four countries, out of 33 with data, where majorities say that the government should spend more, if not much more, money on the military and defense. Numbers one and two are Israel (the dominant Jewish segment in particular) and Russia, where over 60 percent feel this way. The Philippines comes next, with 54 percent, followed by the Dominican Republic.
Elsewhere, public opinion favors cuts on military spending. The countries where 40-49 percent favor more spending on the military are Poland and Venezuela. The proportions drop to only 30-39 percent in Canada, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States; 20-29 percent in Australia, Croatia, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, New Zealand, and Portugal; 10-19 percent in Chile, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay; and less than 10 percent in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
As a final example, the ISSP survey finds that the Philippines is one of only five countries, out of 33 with data, where majorities say that the government should spend more, if not much more, money on culture and the arts. Over 70 percent in Venezuela and over 60 percent in the Dominican Republic feel this way. The Philippines is third, at 56 percent, followed by Croatia and Russia—in some ways, Filipinos are more like the Russians than the Americans!
(Contact SWS: www.sws.org.ph or mahar.mangahas@sws.org.ph.)
