OCTA survey: 54% of Filipinos favor expanding PH-US military ties to address WPS issues By JOVILAND RITA, GMA Integrated News

Majority of Filipinos are supporting the expansion of military cooperation between the Philippines and the United States to address issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), results of a recent Tugon ng Masa survey by OCTA Research show. Based on the survey conducted from July 22 to 26, the results of which were released Thursday, 54% of adult Filipinos are in favor of strengthening and expanding Philippine-US military ties to address territorial disputes in the WPS. Only 11% are not in favor while 32% are undecided, according to the survey. The areas with most support for the expanded Philippine-US military ties are in Balance Luzon and Mindanao, with 56% and 59%, respectively. "Meanwhile, only 46 percent are favorable in both the NCR (National Capital Region) and Visayas," OCTA said. Opposition to the strengthening and expansion of US-PH military cooperation to address WPS issues is strongest in Visayas at 14%, while Balance Luzon (11%), NCR (8%), and Mindanao (11%) "have statistically similar levels of opposition to the policy at around one in ten adult Filipinos residing in those areas," the independent group also said. Across socio-economic classes, Class E has the highest percentage of favoring the expanded US-PH cooperation with 67%. The opposition is strongest in Class ABC with 15%, followed by Class D with 12%. For those undecided or ambivalent, OCTA said the NCR has the highest percentage with 44%, followed by the Visayas with 33%. In boosting US-Philippines military cooperation to deal with "external threats to the country in general," OCTA said majority of adult Filipinos, or 58%, are in favor of it. Only 12% are not favorable while 28% are undecided. The Tugon ng Masa nationwide survey is an independent and non-partisan poll conducted regularly by OCTA. Researchers used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 male and female probability respondents aged 18 years and above. The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level, according to OCTA. OCTA added that the subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95% confidence level: ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The US was among the countries who expressed support to the Philippines following the recent incident where China Coast Guard harassed Philippine vessels on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. In his phone conversation with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier this month, US Defense chief Lloyd Austin III condemned the China Coast Guard's use of water cannons and other dangerous maneuvers, "which put the safety of Philippine vessels and crew at risk," a Pentagon statement on August 9 said. Austin reiterated that the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) covers Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces including its coast guard assets in the Pacific including in the South China Sea. Under the MDT, the two countries agreed that an armed attack in the Pacific Area on either the Philippines or the US would be dangerous and that they would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes. —KBK, GMA Integrated News

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