Filipinos satisfied with US help - SWS

A commanding majority of Filipinos are satisfied with the help the United States has extended to the military in fighting the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, according to the latest survey of independent pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The uncommissioned survey, conducted among 1,200 adult respondents from May 17 to June 3, showed that 63 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with US aid to the Philippine military while only 17 percent were dissatisfied, or a net satisfaction rating of 46 percent.

Respondents from all income groups, the survey showed, also said they were "very satisfied" with US military aid, with 31 percent coming from the middle to upper-income groups and 56 percent from the lower-middle to low-income groups.

Among those who said they were "somewhat satisfied," 42 percent came from the middle to upper-income groups while 66 percent came from the lower-middle to low-income groups.

The survey, which had an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points, also showed that more than half, or 52 percent, of respondents were in favor of allowing US troops to go to conflict areas other than the "combat zones" of the Abu Sayyaf.

Eleven percent of respondents said they wanted American soldiers to go to conflict areas involving the Abu Sayyaf and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front while six percent wanted US forces to go to conflict areas with the communist New People’s Army.

About 35 percent of respondents said they wanted to allow US servicemen to go to conflict areas with the Abu Sayyaf, MILF and NPA while 18 percent said they wanted to limit US involvement only in combat zones of the Abu Sayyaf.

Only 30 percent said they did not approve of US presence in any conflict area in the country.

Twenty-nine percent of those who opposed US military presence in the country came from the middle to upper-income groups, 29 percent from the middle-income group and 30 percent from the low-income group.

But among those who wanted US forces to go to conflict areas involving the Abu Sayyaf, NPA and MILF, 34 percent came from the middle to upper-income groups, 36 percent from the middle-income group and 30 percent from the low-income group.

Opinions, however, were divided on the benefits derived from the recently concluded joint RP-US "Balikatan 02-1" military exercise with half of respondents saying the benefits were adequate and the other half saying otherwise.

The survey also found radical differences in opinions between Muslims and Christians.

"Even though the sample of Muslims is quite small, it is clear that most Muslims (a) are satisfied with US help to the AFP, (b) say that benefits from Balikatan are either nil or only a little and (c) are opposed to the presence of US soldiers in any combat zones," the SWS said in a statement.

But the survey was conducted a month before the visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who announced over the weekend that Manila could avail itself of additional assistance amounting to $55 million in addition to the $100 million committed by Washington last year.

The survey was also conducted before the military, assisted by US troops, rescued American missionary Gracia Burnham who had been a captive of the Abu Sayyaf for more than a year and killed Abu Sayyaf leader Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya.

While Burnham was rescued from her Abu Sayyaf in Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte on June 7, the rescue operation also resulted in the death of her husband Martin and Filipino nurse Edibora Yap.

Sabaya, who was holding Yap and the Burnhams hostage, was killed by government troops in a sea encounter off Sibuco town on June 21, also in Zamboanga del Norte.

The survey was a regular poll SWS conducts every quarter and reflected the results of a similar survey the pollster conducted in March.

In the first quarter survey, a decisive 75 percent of Filipinos said they approved of allowing US soldiers to go to combat zones like Basilan and 60 percent even think the American troopers should stay in such places as long as needed.

According to the March survey, 75 percent of respondents said they approved of the presence of US soldiers in combat zones while only 17 percent disapproved. Eight percent or respondents claimed they did not have enough information to give an opinion.

The survey also showed that 90 percent of respondents didn’t mind having US troops in combat zones in the country but they differed on how long the American soldiers should stay.

Fifteen percent said they could stay for no longer than three months, another 15 percent said they could stay for no longer that six months but 60 percent favored allowing them to stay so long as they are needed in Basilan.

Some 660 US soldiers, including some 160 US Special Forces, were deployed in Basilan in April for the Balikatan 02-1 exercise aimed at Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

The first quarter survey also showed that most Filipinos do not believe the claim of leftist groups that US military presence interferes in how the government runs the country.

Only 28 percent of respondents agreed that US military presence interferes with national sovereignty while 13 percent claimed they did not have enough information to give an opinion. Fifty-nine percent disagreed.