72% of Pinoys want more troops in WPS – survey

MAJORITY of Filipinos want the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to handle issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) through military action, an OCTA Research survey showed.

In its fourth quarter (Q4) Tugon ng Masa Survey conducted from December 10 to 14 last year, 72 percent of respondents said the government should mainly focus on expanded naval patrols and troop presence in the disputed waters, among different measures enumerated by OCTA.

It was an increase of 7 percentage points from the Q3 survey conducted last October.

Those who preferred using diplomacy and other peaceful methods ranked second at 70 percent, while those who said modernization of the country’s military capability were third at 60 percent.

They were also the top three measures ranked across different areas in the country and among different socioeconomic classes.

However, there was a 4-percent increase in respondents in Balance Luzon that preferred modernizing and strengthening the military’s capability, while there was a noticeable increase in Mindanao by 20 percentage points, followed by the Visayas by 11 percentage points, and the National Capital Region by 8 percentage points.

Socioeconomic class ABC, meanwhile, preferred that the government pursue diplomacy at 73 percent as opposed to military action at 65 percent, as well as Class E at 83 percent rather than 58 percent. However, socioeconomic class D wants more military action at 76 percent than pursuing diplomatic moves at 66 percent.

Class D respondents had the highest jump among those who preferred asserting the country’s territorial rights through military action, a jump of 12 percent from the October 2023 survey, while there was a decrease

in Class ABC and E by 3 and 12 percentage points, respectively.

Other possible measures that were measured by OCTA include the possibility of conducting joint patrols among allied countries, expanding diplomatic efforts within and outside the region, and shelving the disputes and pushing instead for a joint economic area.

The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

Meanwhile, Deputy Majority Leader and Ang Probinsyano Partylist Rep. Alfred de los Santos called on the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to improve their coordination and presence in the West Philippine Sea after Filipino fishermen were harassed again at Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag Shoal) by the China Coast Guard.