SWS: 93% of Pinoys say PH regaining control over China-occupied islands in WPS important

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping pose for posterity prior to the start of the bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 25, 2019. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Majority of Filipinos believe that it is important for the Philippine government to regain its control over the islands occupied by China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), according to the Second Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey.

The survey, using face-to-face interviews, asked its 1,200 respondents, “In your opinion, is it important that the control of the islands that China currently occupies in the West Philippine Sea be given back to the Philippines?”

Responding to this, 93 percent said it is important, with 74 percent said it is “very important,” while 19 percent of them think it is “somewhat important.”

This latest figure, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) noted, is four points above the 89 percent recorded last December 2018.

The same survey also pointed out four specific activities and asked its respondents whether it is “right” or “not right” for the Philippine government to do those things to resolve the conflict between the Philippines and China about the WPS.

The SWS found out that 89 percent of Filipinos said it is “not right” for the government to “leave China alone with its infrastructures and military presence in the claimed territories” and 92 percent said it is “right” to “strengthen the military capability of the Philippines, especially the Navy.”

Meanwhile, 83 percent said it is “right” for the Philippine government to “bring the issue to international organizations, like the United Nations or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, for a diplomatic and peaceful negotiation with China about the claimed territories” and that 84 percent said it is “right” for the Philippines to “form alliances with other countries that are ready to help us in defending our security in the West Philippine Sea.”

The latest poll was conducted from June 22 to 26, following an incident in the WPS where a Filipino fishing vessel carrying 22 fishermen sank at the Recto Bank after it was allegedly hit by a Chinese vessel.

This survey also has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages and plus or minus six percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.