More than 8 in 10 Filipinos oppose gay marriage, according to a survey conducted in May.

A massive 70% of respondents said they ‘strongly disagree’ with gay marriage being legalized in the Catholic-majority country, according to the poll conducted by Laylo Research Strategies for The Standard newspaper.

Only 4% said they ‘strongly agree’ with gay marriage. The rest of the respondents ‘somewhat disagree’ (14%) and ‘somewhat agree’ (12%) with a possible reform in the country’s marriage laws.

Opposition was strongest in Central/Northern Luzon and among well-to-do respondents.

Those from urban areas were most likely to ‘strongly agree’ with gay marriage, but that proportion still only stood at 7%.

The majority of responses to the survey on social media supported the findings.

‘Getting wed is not just an event,’ wrote one Facebook user.

‘It’s a sacred act. People should respect its sanctity. I am not against the gay and lesbian people. But I am against the Same-sex Marriage. If you respect God, you need to respect his ways.’

Another said: ‘We can offer our respect to LGBT Community, but we can’t offer the Church their marriage. We’ll be insulting God if we let that happen.’

The survey also found that 8% of Philippines had had same-sex relations, 12% of males and 5% of females.

From 8-18 May, 1,500 adults from all regions of the Philippines were polled for the survey, which has a margin of error of 2.6%.

See the full results below: