Filipinos want military action to resolve sea row

Philippine Coast Guard purportedly show a collision between one of its ships and a China Coast Guard vessel during a resupply mission in the South China Sea.

(UPDATE) SEVEN out of 10 Filipinos favor military action and diplomacy in resolving the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue, an OCTA Research survey said.

Results of the first quarter Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from March 11–14, 2024 showed that 73 percent of respondents wanted the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to expand naval patrols and troop presence in the disputed waters.

Seventy-two percent said they wanted the dispute settled solely by diplomatic means, while 68 percent said that the military must be modernized to protect Philippine territories.

Forty-three percent favored joint military patrols with ally countries, 32 percent preferred expansion of diplomatic efforts from within and outside the region, and 12 percent were agreeable to joint development efforts with China.

OCTA said that those who preferred military fortification increased by 2 percentage points, overtaking those who favored diplomatic measures based on the previous survey.

“Based on the data, it is clear that over the last four quarters, the majority of Filipinos overwhelmingly support a more assertive stance in the West Philippine Sea,” said OCTA founding fellow Ranjit Rye.

Respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR) registered the highest percentage among those who preferred aggressive, standing at 85 percent, while 77 percent of respondents in the Visayas favored modernizing the military.

NCR respondents who said they wanted a modernized military amid China’s threat decreased from 71 percent in December 2023 to 52 percent in March 2024, a drop of 21 percentage points.

Socioeconomic class ABC, meanwhile, wanted the Philippines to engage in diplomatic means to diffuse tensions at 78 percent, while Class D and E were statistically tied to military action and diplomacy.

There was a notable increase among Class ABC and E who prefer asserting the country’s territorial rights through military action by 11 and 14 percentage points, respectively, from 65 percent for Class ABC and 58 percent for Class E in December 2023 to 76 percent and 72 percent, respectively, in March 2024.

A decrease was noted among Class E respondents who said they wanted the Philippines to use diplomatic measures to diffuse tensions, from 83 percent in December 2023 to 66 percent in March 2024, a 17-percent drop.

Class ABC respondents who prefer modernizing the Philippine military, on the other hand, increased by 23 percentage points, from 48 percent in December 2023 to 71 percent in March 2024.

The survey involved 1,200 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent nationally and 6 percent per major area.