OCTA poll results further boost AFP resolve in WPS – official

GREATEST THREAT. Members of the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement hold a lightning rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Makati City on Monday (Aug. 25, 2025). Results of the latest “Tugon ng Masa” survey by OCTA Research show that majority of Filipinos distrust China and see the country as the greatest threat to the Philippines. (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

By Priam Nepomuceno, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The result of a recent survey showing majority of Filipinos distrust China is evidence that the public is well aware of issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official said Monday.

In a statement, PN spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the results of the survey, conducted by OCTA Research from July 12 to 17, also show that Filipinos “support the stand of government to defend our maritime rights.”

“This further strengthens the resolve of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to protect and secure what is rightfully ours,” Trinidad said.

“It adds more legitimacy to our stand —and fight— when you know you have the backing of the vast majority of our people.”

OCTA’s “Tugon ng Masa” survey, which was conducted using face-to-face interviews and had 1,200 male and female respondents, shows 85 percent of Filipinos distrust China while 76 percent “strongly” support asserting the country’s maritime rights in the WPS.

China has been consistently harassing Philippine patrols in the WPS, at times resorting to “gray-zone tactics” as part of its efforts to establish itself in the maritime territory well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“Gray-zone” tactics are defined as acts committed by a state that are harmful to another state and are sometimes considered to be acts of war, but not legal acts of war.