October 15, 2024
MANILA – Seven out of 10 Filipinos “will not support” candidates in the 2025 midterm elections who take positions favorable to China despite its maritime disputes with the Philippines, according to a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by the private think tank Stratbase Group.
Released on Monday, the results of the poll conducted from Sept. 6 to 13 showed that 73 percent of Filipinos said they would not support a candidate who is “pro-China at present or in the past.”
Only 5 percent of the respondents said they would support pro-China candidates, while 23 percent said they “cannot say.”
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Pulse Asia polled 1,200 respondents nationwide. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
“Many Filipinos feel that China’s actions, particularly in the West Philippine Sea, directly challenge our sovereignty and undermine our nation’s interests,” Dindo Manhit, founder and CEO of Stratbase Group, said in a statement.
“Electing pro-China candidates poses significant risks, as it will lead to policies that compromise our territorial integrity, economic interests,” he added.
Not just political
Manhit said the majority of Filipinos believed that a candidate’s position for or against China was “not just a political choice but a decision that can jeopardize our future and our nation’s standing in the global arena.”
Manila and Beijing have had increasingly tense encounters in the West Philippine Sea, or the waters within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely.
The Philippines accuses China of harassing its sailors and fishers using water cannons and lasers, despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that voided Beijing’s sweeping claims to the sea.
By geographic area, the Pulse Asia survey found that the highest proportion of respondents who said they would not support pro-China candidates was highest in the Visayas (85 percent), followed by Metro Manila (83 percent), Mindanao (74 percent), and Luzon outside of Manila (65 percent).
By socioeconomic class, 74 percent of those belonging to Class E said they would not support pro-China candidates, followed by 73 percent from Class D, and 72 percent from Class ABC.
Survey respondents were also asked to pick up to three from a list of countries they consider the Philippines’ “most trusted partners” in national development.
US still most trusted
Only 1 percent of Filipinos chose China, based on the results.
The United States topped the list with 79 percent, followed by Japan (50 percent), Canada (43 percent), Australia (42 percent), the United Kingdom (18 percent), European Union (15 percent), South Korea (13 percent), Russia (7 percent) and India (2 percent).
Only 7 percent believe that China is a beneficial economic partner, the survey showed.
Among the “most beneficial economic partners of the Philippines” were the United States, with 66 percent, followed by Japan (43 percent), Australia (32 percent), Canada (31 percent), United Kingdom (16 percent), South Korea (15 percent), European Union (12 percent), Russia (11 percent) and India (8 percent).