73% of Pinoys want Duterte to assert PHL claims in West PHL Sea —Pulse Asia

Seventy-three percent of Filipinos believe President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration must assert the Philippines' sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea, two years after Philippines' victory against China in the arbitration case involving the disputed South China Sea.

Pulse Asia President Roland Holmes on Thursday presented the results of a survey from June 15 to June 25, 2018 participated in by 1,800 participants at a forum on the second anniversary of the Philippines' arbitral win.

About 46 percent of the participants strongly agreed and 27 percent somewhat agreed that the Duterte administration must assert the ruling that invalidated China's nine-dash line claim in the West Philippine Sea portion of the South China Sea.

Only 17 percent are in the middle while 4 percent somewhat disagree and 3 percent strongly disagree with enforcing the decision.

Two percent admitted that they did not have enough knowledge to give an opinion while 0.4 had no knowledge of the situation at all.

In a December 2016 survey, 84% agreed that the government should assert its right on the WPS (3% disagreement and 12% indecision)

Protest vs. Chinese militarization

Meanwhile, a plurality of Filipinos (36 percent) are also of the opinion that the Philippines should file a diplomatic protest with the Chinese embassy in the Philippines against the continuous militarization of the Chinese in the West Philippine Sea.

This protest must "emphasize the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration last 2016 that the islands int he West Philippine Sea are Philippine territory."

A further 22 percent believe the Philippines must strengthen its military alliances with the US, Japan, Australia, and other countries and 16 percent want the Philippines to strengthen its own military capabilities in defending its territories.

This is in contrast to the 21 percent who want to continue the government's plans to befriend China.

Trust in US, ASEAN remains high

Filipinos still have a high amount of trust in the United States (74 percent), Japan (45 percent), and Australia (32 percent) in comparison to China (17 percent).

Trust in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is also a percent higher than the United Nations (UN) (33 percent vs. 32 percent), but significantly higher than the European Union (7 percent). — MDM/GMA News