Most Filipinos do not agree that China has good intentions for the country —SWS

Most of the Filipinos do not agree with the statement, "Most of what the Chinese government want to happen in the Philippines is good for the Filipinos," according to the Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey.

The survey showed the 44 percent disagreement consists of 22 percent strongly disagree and 22 percent somewhat disagree, while the 27 percent agreement consists of 7 percent strongly agree and 19 percent somewhat agree.

Only 27 percent agree with the statement, and 29 percent are undecided about the question.

The survey was conducted from December 16-19, 2018, using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao).

The survey was non-commissioned.

Duterte: We need China

n 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague issued a favorable ruling to the Philippines when it said that China's nine-dash line claim and accompanying claims to historic rights have no validity under international law.

The Philippines, then under President Benigno Aquino III, filed the complaints amid China's incessant reclamation activities in the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Malacanang's spokesperson Salvador Panelo, however, declared late last year that the ruling was "useless" for now because it could not be enforced.

The Duterte administration's relationship with China has been marked with warm sentiments and blooming economic ties manifested by dozens of agreements, including those crucial to the government's Build, Build, Build program.

This week, however, Duterte ordered a review of the loan agreements with China after critics and several lawmakers pointed out that some of the deals are disadvantageous to the country.

Public trust in China

Measuring public trust in China as a country, the SWS survey found negative net agreement that "most of what the Chinese government wants to happen in the Philippines is good for the Filipinos" among those who distrust China.

The survey found a net agreement score of neutral +8 (39% agree, 31% disagree) among those with much trust in China, compared to the moderately weak -12 (23% agree, 35% disagree) among those who were undecided about their trust in China, and the very weak -40 (19% agree, 60% disagree, correctly rounded) among those with little trust in China.

Intentions of foreign governments

According to SWS, it first implemented the survey question in July 1985 "to gauge public opinion about the US government’s intention for the Filipino people."

"Up to 2005, the question was fielded 11 times nationwide during the Cory Aquino administration, 6 times during the Ramos administration, and 3 times during the Arroyo administration," it said.

In its July 1985 survey, SWS found a very strong +35 net agreement that most of what the US government wants to happen in the Philippines is good for the Filipinos. It rose to a record-high very strong +40 in May 1986, and declined to moderately strong to neutral levels from February 1989 to November 1990. It stayed moderately strong from July 1991 to August 2004, ranging from +16 to +24, before declining to neutral +8 in August 2005

SWS said that in its September 1993 survey, it used the same test statement for the Japanese and Chinese governments.

The survey found moderately weak net agreement scores of -11 (26% agree, 37% disagree) and -28 (16% agree, 45% disagree, correctly rounded) for the Japanese and Chinese governments, respectively. These were much lower net agreement scores compared to the moderately strong +24 (46% agree, 22% disagree) for the American government.

"Compared to when last surveyed by SWS, net agreement that most of what the Chinese government wants to happen in the Philippines is good for the Filipinos eased by 11 points, from -28 in September 1993 to -17 in December 2018," it said.

"However, the proportion of those who strongly disagree rose by 17 points from 5% to 22%," SWS added. —LDF, GMA News