Majority of Filipinos believe not right to allow China military presence in West Philippine Sea: SWS

July 15, 2018

Four out of five Filipinos believe it is not right for the government to let China do its infrastructure and have military presence in the West Philippine Sea, according to a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey.

The survey released last Saturday said  81 percent of Filipinos said it is not right to leave China alone with its infrastructure and military presence in the claimed territories while 80 percent said it is right for the government to strengthen the military capability of the Philippines, especially the Navy.

The survey was conducted from  June 27-30, 2018, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults.

Seventy-four percent said it is right for the government to bring the issue to international organizations, like the United Nations or Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for a diplomatic and peaceful negotiation with China about the claimed territories.

Meanwhile, seventy-three percent said it is all right to have direct, bilateral negotiations between the Philippines and China to discuss resolution of the issue of the claimed territories.

Also, sixty-eight percent said the government should ask other countries to mediate the issue of the claimed territories.

Eighty-one percent are aware of the West Philippine Sea conflict,  43 percent have only a little knowledge about the issue, 40 percent were adequate, and 12 percent have extensive knowledge about it

SWS also found 81 percent aware of the West Philippine Sea conflict even before the survey, while the remaining 19% learned about the issue only during the interview.

The trust of Filipino towards China falls to “bad” -35, where 18 percent of adult Filipinos have much trust, while 27 percent were undecided, and 53 percent has little trust in the said country.

This is a 42-point decline and one grade down, from the neutral +7 last March 2018. This is the lowest since the bad -37 in April 2016.

China’s net trust rating was a "bad" -38 among those who were aware of the West Philippine Sea conflict before the survey, compared to the poor -22 among those who learned about it only during the interview.

Distrust in China also tended to be higher among those with more knowledge about the West Philippine Sea conflict: net trust in China was at -41 among those with extensive knowledge, and -42 among those with adequate knowledge, compared to -33 among those with only a little knowledge, and -35 among those with very little knowledge.

SWS said net trusting of China was "bad" regardless of people's satisfaction with President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The net trust rating of China was at bad levels regardless of people’s satisfaction with Pres. Duterte: it was highest among those who were dissatisfied with the President, at -42, followed by those who were undecided, at -39, and among those who were satisfied with him, at -32,” it said. Ella Dionisio/DMS