Most Pinoys back US-Philippine military cooperation – OCTA poll

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of Filipinos support strengthening and expanding military cooperation between the Philippines and the United States, a survey conducted by OCTA Research said.

Results of the July 22 to 26 survey released on Aug. 17 showed that 54 percent of the respondents support stronger military cooperation between the two countries to address the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

This is composed of 14 percent who have a “very favorable” view of the matter and 40 percent who said they were “somewhat favorable.”

Only 11 percent were not favorable of expanding military cooperation between the US and the Philippines to address issues in the West Philippine Sea, with the remaining 32 percent saying they were not sure if they were in favor or not.

The same survey asked the respondents if they support strengthening and expanding military cooperation between the US and the Philippines to deal with external threats to the country in general.

Some 58 percent said they support it, composed of 15 percent who said they were “very favorable” and 43 percent who were “somewhat favorable.” Some 12 percent were either very or somewhat unfavorable, while 28 percent were ambivalent.

OCTA earlier released the results of a survey on the top priority measures that Filipinos think the Marcos administration should do to handle conflicts related to the West Philippine Sea.

Seventy percent said the government should assert the Philippines’ territorial rights through diplomacy and other peaceful methods, while 65 percent said it should be asserted through military action.

Some 61 percent said the government should modernize the Philippine military’s capability to protect the country’s territories.

The total exceeded 100 percent because the respondents were allowed to select up to three measures.

OCTA’s Tugon ng Masa survey had 1,200 adult respondents and a margin of error of +/- three percent.