Pinoys see China as biggest threat to PH — OCTA survey

The majority of adult Filipinos see China as the country that posed the biggest threat to the Philippines in the first quarter of 2024, according to survey results released last Wednesday.

OCTA Research claimed that 76% of the survey respondents named China as the biggest threat to the country, with Russia placing a distant second at 9%.

While the 76% score was “lower than the three year high” of 79% on December 2023, OCTA claimed that it was still “within the margin of error for national estimates.”

The percentage of respondents pointing to China as a threat had increased at 17% since the Marcos administration began.

“[The data naming China as the biggest threat has been] statistically unchanged since the previous quarter ending in December 2023. Russia was a far second, with only 9 percent perceiving the country as posing the greatest threat to the Philippines—a 6 percent decline since the beginning of the war in Ukraine,” the survey read.

In the survey, at least 71% of respondents in all major areas of the study believed China was the biggest threat to the Philippines, while 77% of Class D and 76% of Class E state the same.

In Classes A-B-C, only 63% shared the same opinion.

Meanwhile, only 44% of the respondents believed that China had a positive impact on the Philippine economy.

The score increased by 13% from the initial survey from October 2022, which only yielded 31% on the same opinion.

In a forum with thinktank Stratbase ADR Institute and the Austalian Embassy on Thursday, OCTA also said that 61% of adult Filipinos agree with the Marcos administration’s response to the dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

“Most Filipinos support a dual-track approach of military action and diplomacy to assert the country's maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea,” read the study.

In an earlier study by OCTA Research, Filipinos claimed that military action should be given priority in response to issues in the West Philippine Sea.

China’s trust ratings have also shown a downward trend since February 2022, scoring a 91% score on Filipinos who distrust China. It has consistently ranked in the lowest trust ratings among adult Filipinos since January 2021.

On the other hand, 85% of the respondents said they trusted the United States of America.

“Comparing the trust rating of China to other countries, China has the lowest trust rating among adult Filipinos since January 2021 compared to the USA, Russia and North Korea,” the study continued.

The latest Tugon ng Masa survey gathered data through face-to-face interviews of over 1,200 interviewees nationwide from March 11 to 14.

The survey had a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level nationwide, and a ±6% margin of error at a 95% confidence level for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.—RF, GMA Integrated News