47% of Pinoys think government not asserting sea rights

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly half of Filipinos think the Duterte administration is “not doing enough” to assert the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in June.

The poll, taken from June 23 to 26, found 47 percent of adult Filipinos saying the government is not doing enough to assert the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea, while 24 percent said otherwise, for a net agreement of +23, classified by SWS as “moderately strong.”

Net agreement was “moderately strong” in all areas: it was higher in Metro Manila (+25), balance Luzon (+24) and Mindanao (+24) than in the Visayas (+17).

The survey also found 68 percent who favor alliances with other countries to defend Philippine rights in the WPS. Twenty-two percent were undecided while nine percent disagreed.

Meanwhile, 69 percent of them favor building structures in the WPS as a means of asserting the country’s rights, while 21 were undecided and four percent said it is “not at all important.”

The four questions in the SWS poll were sponsored by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute.

It used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide.