77 percent of Pinoys willing to fight for Philippines – poll

MANILA, Philippines — About three in every four Filipinos are willing to fight for the Philippines in case of conflict with a foreign enemy, an OCTA Research survey commissioned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines found.

The poll, conducted from Dec. 10 to 14 and released yesterday, found that 77 percent of the respondents were willing to fight for the country.

Twenty-three percent said they were not.

The exact survey question was, “if there is a conflict between the Philippines and a foreign enemy, are you ready to fight for your country?”

Across areas, willingness to fight for the country was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 84 percent, followed by those in balance Luzon at 79 percent, Metro Manila at 76 percent and the Visayas at 62 percent.

It was highest among those in class D at 80 percent, followed by class E at 68 percent and class ABC at 67 percent.

Willingness to fight for the country was a little higher among men (82 percent) than women (72 percent), as well as those in urban (80 percent) than in rural areas (72 percent).

Across age groups, it was highest among 45-54 (87 percent), followed by 25-34 and 35-44 (77 percent), 18-24 (74 percent), 55-64 and 75 above (72 percent) and 65-74 (69 percent).

Meanwhile, unwillingness to fight for the country was highest from those in the Visayas at 38 percent), followed by those in Metro Manila at 24 percent, rest of Luzon at 21 percent and Mindanao at 16 percent.

Across socio-economic classes, 33 percent from those in class ABC said they were not willing to fight for the country, followed by 32 percent from class E and 20 percent from class D.

The commissioned survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus three percent for national percentages.