Survey: 84% of Filipinos back government effort to protect rights in West Philippine Sea

BRP Ivatan (LC298), a Philippine Navy vessel, on a relief mission to typhoon-hit Siargao Island in December 2021. Photo courtesy of NFWM PAO.

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 18 January) – Eighty-four percent of Filipinos support the national government’s efforts to defend and assert maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) amid China’s adverse territorial claims, according to a recent survey released by OCTA Research on Friday.

The non-commissioned Tugon ng Masa survey, conducted November 10 to 16, 2024 using face-to-face interviews, asked 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above whether or not they support the government’s moves to protect the country’s rights in waters belonging to its exclusive economic zone.

OCTA said 84 percent are supporting the national government, with respondents in Metro Manila showing the highest approval at 90 percent, while Balance Luzon recorded the lowest at 81 percent.

Support was highest among Class D respondents at 84 percent, followed by Class E at 83 percent.

Respondents aged 25 to 34 expressed the highest level of agreement at 89 percent, while those aged 18 to 24 showed the lowest support at 71 percent.

Ninety-one percent of the respondents said they are familiar with the WPS issue.

“Awareness is highest in Visayas, where 96 percent of adult Filipinos are familiar with the issue, while Mindanao recorded the lowest awareness level at 87 percent,” OCTA said.

The survey has a ±3 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.

An Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted by Pulse Asia from June 17-24, 2024, a month before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his State of the Nation Address, showed that “defending the integrity of Philippine territory against foreigners” ranked 14th among the 17 “Most Urgent National Concerns” that the government should attend to.

Overall, only 5 percent of the 2,400 respondents aged 18 and above rated the issue as urgent, Pulse Asia said.

However, 31 percent of the respondents said they would like the President to discuss during the SONA last year the actions to be taken to stop foreign incursion in the WPS. Respondents in Balance Luzon and NCR showed the highest level of agreement at 37 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while those in Mindanao gave the lowest at 23 percent.

The Pulse Asia survey started on the same day that members of the China Coast Guard, using tear gas and other weapons, confronted Philippine Navy personnel who were on a resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal.

In July 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention rejected China’s maritime claim to areas determined by the Tribunal to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

The ruling, as provided under the Convention, is deemed final and legally binding on China and the Philippines. (MindaNews)