Philippines dares China to prove it’s trustworthy following survey showing Japan, US more trusted by Filipinos

March 2, 2018

The Philippines is challenging China to prove it is trustworthy following a latest survey showing Filipinos trust more the United States and Japan.

In a press briefing in Tarlac, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it was not surprising that the result of the Social Weather Stations survey on Feb.28 showed that Filipinos have "very good" rating with the US, with a +68 net rating, Canada with +55, and Japan at +54.

"Of course this does not come as a surprise, the Americans and the Japanese have been our traditional allies. It’s only proper that our people have trusted them because of our long and established relationship," he said.

Similar to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, the net trust rating for China was at "neutral" at +7.

Roque admitted that Manila's friendly cooperation with Beijing is just new. "It will take time before we can be BFF (best friends forever)," he said.

Roque expressed belief the perception of Filipinos could change towards China if it would "fulfill its promises, if we will not have any conflict due to the West Philippine Sea (issue), if they follow their promise not to conduct new reclamation and (build) new artificial islands."

The Philippines and China have been engaged in a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.

Despite the row, the Duterte administration has taken a "friendly" stance with Beijing. Roque believed Filipinos would prefer to be friends with China than make it their enemy.

"So like all relationships, this is a two-sided relationship. We want to trust China, but China must also prove herself to be trustworthy," he stressed. Celerina Monte/DMS