The majority of Filipinos want the Philippines to assert its territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea through diplomacy or other peaceful means, an independent survey conducted by the OCTA Research revealed.

OCTA asked 1,200 adult respondents in the "Tugon ng Masa" survey, which was conducted from July 22 to 26, to cite the top three priority measures they believe the Marcos Administration should prioritize in order to effectively handle conflict-related issues in the West Philippine Sea.

According to an advance copy of the survey results provided to the Manila Bulletin, Filipinos opted for the following priority measures: further asserting the Philippines' territorial rights through diplomacy and other peaceful methods (70 percent); further asserting the Philippines' territorial rights through “military action,” which means expanding naval patrol and troop presence in the West Philippine Sea (65 percent); and modernizing and strengthening the Philippine military's capability to protect the country's territories (61 percent).

Asserting territorial rights through diplomatic channels

Visayas has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos (84 percent) who want to assert the country's territorial rights through diplomacy and other peaceful means, followed by Mindanao (70 percent).

Meanwhile, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Balance Luzon are statistically tied at 64 and 67 percent in favoring such.

OCTA noted that the majority of Filipinos across all socioeconomic classes want the Philippines to assert its territorial rights through diplomacy and other peaceful means.

Eighty percent in Class E want diplomacy and other peaceful methods, which is significantly higher than in Classes D and ABC at 69 percent and 58 percent, respectively.

Military action

According to OCTA, the majority of respondents in NCR, Balance Luzon, and Visayas want the Philippines to assert its territorial rights through military action (71 percent, 69 percent, and 68 percent, respectively).

Only a "slight majority" (52 percent) in Mindanao support the measure.

Moreover, around two-thirds of Filipinos, regardless of socioeconomic status, want to assert the Philippines' territorial rights through military action: Class ABC (65 percent), Class D (65 percent), and Class E (66 percent).

Military modernization

OCTA said the majority of respondents (68 percent) in Mindanao support modernizing and strengthening the Philippine military's capability to defend the nation's territories.

NCR and Balance Luzon followed at 65 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

Visayas has the lowest percentage of people who support modernizing and strengthening the military's capabilities, at just 49 percent.

Across socioeconomic classes, the majority of classes D and E (62 percent and 58 percent, respectively) want to modernize and strengthen the Philippine military.

Meanwhile, only 50 percent of Class ABC wants the measure to be prioritized.