87% believe Chinese fishermen should be arrested for illegal fishing in West Philippine Sea: SWS

July 12, 2019

Eighty seven percent of Filipinos believe Chinese fishermen should be arrested for destroying marine resources through illegal fishing activities and construction of artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Mahar Mangahas, president of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), presented  in a forum on Friday a survey that 87 percent of Filipinos agreed and five percent disagreed that the government should arrest and prosecute Chinese fishermen for destroying marine resources.

Eight percent of respondents remain undecided.

The SWS also found 87 percent of Filipinos agreed the government should assert its right to the islands in the West Philippine Sea as stipulated in the 2016 arbitral ruling.

Only five percent disagreed on asserting the Philippines’ rights while nine were undecided.

“The survey items regarding the people’s opinion on whether the government should assert its right to the islands in the West Philippine Sea and whether the government should arrest and prosecute Chinese fishermen who cause the destruction of marine resources were commissioned by Stratbase ADR Institute,” said Mangahas.

Meanwhile, 71 percent of Filipinos believe the government is serious in protecting Filipino fishermen against foreign vessels while 15 percent said they are not serious and the remaining 15 percent were undecided.

The survey presented was conducted from June 22-26 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults with sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Ella Dionisio/DMS