Phl-ASEAN relations

As the Philippines hosts the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits this week, public perceptions of the country’s key foreign relationships reveal contrasting assessments of its major international partners, with Japan and the United States receiving the highest combined positive ratings, and China registering the largest share of negative assessments.

These were the findings of the WR Numero Research’s October 2026 WR National Poll of Philippine Public Opinion Monitor.

WR Numero Research is  the polling subsidiary of the WR Advisory Group. It was the first to introduce nationally its categorization of respondents by partisanship (Administration, Liberal Progressives, Independent) and factional partisanship (pro-Marcos, pro-Duterte, pro-Liberal Progressives, independent) in 2024.

Since 2018, the WR Advisory Group has been a key strategic partner supporting national and local candidates. It equips leaders, institutions and decision-makers with intelligence on shifts in public opinion on key issues affecting the nation.

According to  WR Numero Research, 44 percent  of its survey respondents view Philippine-China relations negatively or very negatively, compared with 21.8 percent  who express positive or very positive views., while  28.2 percent remain neutral.

The assessment differs for the Philippines’ other major partners.

Japan received the highest combined positive assessment at 44.2 percent, followed by the US at 42.2 percent. Taiwan received a combined positive rating of 32.7 percent.

The survey results suggest that Filipino perception of the country’s foreign relationships are differentiated across partners — with Japan and the US receiving more favorable assessments, while relations with China attract a larger share of negative views.

Negative assessments of Philippine-China relations increased by 11 points, WR Numero Research gleaned from the survey.

The most notable movement between the June and October 2026 surveys is the increase in negative assessments of Philippine-China relations.

In June, 32.8 percent  of respondents viewed relations with China negatively or very negatively. By October, this share had increased to 44 percent, an increase of 11.2 percentage points.

Positive assessments also increased slightly, from 19.7 percent in June to 21.8 percent in October.

Neutral responses declined from 36.8 percent  to 28.2 percent, while the share of those who were unsure decreased from 10.6 percent  to 5.9 percent.

The increase in negative assessments, alongside a modest rise in positive views, WR Numero Research noted, suggests a more differentiated distribution of opinion, rather than a uniform shift toward a single position.

Nevertheless, it explained, the negative assessment remains the largest combined category in the October results.

The survey results showed that Japan records the highest combined positive assessment among the countries evaluated, with 44.2 percent viewing Philippine-Japan relations positively or very positively. This is an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 38.9 percent in June.

However, the survey results also indicated that negative assessments of relations with Japan also increased, from 15.1 percent to 18.1 percent, while neutral responses declined from 36.4 percent to 30.2 percent.

The US, the results showed,  likewise records an increase

in positive assessments, rising from 38.8 percent  in June to 42.2 percent in October.

Negative views of the US, the results indicated, remain relatively stable — moving from 15.6 percent  to 15.9 percent — while neutral responses decline slightly from 36.2 percent  to 35.1 percent.

The results, WR Numero Research said, indicate that Japan and the US continue to receive comparatively favorable public assessments among the countries included in both survey rounds.

However, the increase in positive views is accompanied by some increase in negative assessments of Japan, while views of the US remain more stable across the two periods.

On the other hand, the survey showed that public perceptions of Philippine-Taiwan relations remain more reserved.

In October, 38.8 percent  of respondents rated the relationship as neutral, while 32.7 percent express positive or very positive views, and  17.8 percent registered  negative or very negative views.

Compared with June, positive assessments increased slightly from 31.6 percent to 32.7 percent, while negative assessments moved from 16.8 percent to 17.8 percent.

Neutral responses declined from 40.3 percent to 38.8 percent.

The results, WR Numero Research said, suggest that public opinion on Philippine-Taiwan relations remains concentrated around neutrality, with neither positive nor negative assessments representing a majority.

The October survey also examined perceptions of the Philippines’ relations with the European Union and the United Kingdom.

A combined 35.3 percent  of respondents express positive or very positive views, while 17 percent report negative or very negative assessments. Another 34.3 percent remain neutral, and 13.5 percent are unsure.

The results, WR Numero Research said,  indicate a generally more favorable balance of positive than negative assessments, although neutral and uncertain responses remain substantial.

Unlike the US, China, Japan, and Taiwan, the European Union and United Kingdom were not included in the June comparison presented in this survey release.

The October 2026 WR National Poll was conducted from Oct. 7 to 13, 2026, through face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,225 Filipino adults residing in the Philippines.

The survey has a ± 2.8 percentage point margin of error at the 95 percent  confidence level.