More Filipinos proud over PH performance in int’l sports tilts

December 13, 2019

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on Thursday said more Filipinos are feeling proud that the country does well in international sports competitions nowadays compared to previous years.

In its latest report, SWS said 95 percent of Filipinos feel proud when the Philippines does well at international sports competitions while only three percent were not proud.

“There are more Filipinos now who feel proud when the country does well in international sports than when the question was asked in 2008,” SWS said.

In 2008, SWS said there were only 93 percent who were proud of the country’s achievements in international sports.

It said those who feel very proud increased by five points, from 74 percent in 2008 to 79 percent in 2019.

Those who feel proud of the country’s achievement in sports were mostly men at 84 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentages of those who are proud of the Philippines’ achievements in international sports are high and hardly vary in all areas and across socio-demographic groups.

Eighty four percent of Filipinos from Metro Manila and 81 percent in Balance Luzon are very proud of the country’s achievements in sports which is slightly higher than the 77 percent in Visayas and 72 percent in Mindanao.  

The Philippines, which was the host country of the recent 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, was hailed as the overall champion after winning 149 gold medals.

Even before the biennial sporting event, a lot of Filipino athletes already won medals in previous international events, including Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting and Carlos Yulo of gymnastics.

Both of them also won gold medals during the SEA Games competition and are set to compete in Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

SWS said data from the International Social Survey Program’s survey modules on national identity in 1995, 2003 and 2013 showed that the Philippines’ achievements in sports was the top source of pride among Filipinos, along with the country’s history and achievements in arts and literature. 

In 1995, a total of 80 percent were proud of the Philippines’ achievements in sports. Pride in the country’s achievements in sports increased to 84 percent in 2003 and reached the all-time high 86 percent in 2013.

“The percentages of those who are proud of the country’s history were 82 percent in 1995, 82 percent in 2003 and 84 percent in 2013,” SWS said.

The survey was conducted from September 27-30 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults nationwide. Ella Dionisio/DMS