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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
June 12, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos want the Philippine government to work with the United States, Japan and other western-aligned countries to shore up its defense of the West Philippine Sea, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed.
The May 3 to 7 survey, commissioned by the Stratbase Institute, asked respondents to select up to five countries or organizations that the Philippines should work with to defend its claims in the region.
Eighty-four percent selected the United States, while 67 percent selected Japan.
Other top choices included Australia (57 percent), Canada (51 percent), South Korea (44 percent), United Kingdom (32 percent) and European Union (26 percent).
These were followed by Taiwan (23 percent), China (18 percent) and India (nine percent).
Stratbase noted that support for China appears to have been pulled upward by respondents from Mindanao, where 23 percent said they wanted the Philippine government to defend the West Philippine Sea.
Still, these figures remain significantly lower than those who selected United States, Japan and other western-aligned countries and organizations.
‘Silence weaken Philippines
Former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said the Philippines must urgently protest to reject China’s interpretation of maritime claims and prevent weakening its legal position in the South China Sea.
Carpio warned that silence over the assertion could be interpreted as acceptance under international law.
“If we do not protest this declaration of China, we are deemed to have implicitly accepted it — so we must protest,” he said, adding that “six months have passed and we have done nothing.”
President Marcos won’t allow the Philippines to lose the Panatag Shoal, Malacañang said, following the discovery of a floating structure in the area believed to have been deployed by China. – Kate Judson, Alexis Romero
