MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos agree with the suit filed by two former government officials against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court, a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey showed.
Last March, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filed a case against Xi Jinping for “crimes against humanity” for taking over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea.
Respondents were asked if they agree with this statement: “The suit filed in the ICC by Albert Del Rosario and Conchita Carpio-Morales, former officials of the PH government, against Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping for wrongful destruction of the livelihood of Filipino fisherman shows the world that China should leave the islands it has occupied in the West Philippine Sea.”
Results of the survey showed that 27 percent of adult Filipinos said they “agree” with the suit, while 22 percent said they “somewhat agree.”
Meanwhile, 7 percent said they “strongly disagree” and 10 percent said they “somewhat disagree,” giving a disagreement percentage of only 17 percent and an agreement net score of +32 which SWS considers as “very strong.”
The remaining 28 percent said they are undecided.
SWS said that the reaction was “very strong” with respondents in classes A, B, C, and D, and among high school graduates and above.
In terms of location of residence, SWS said that the reaction was “very strong” among those living Metro Manila and Balance Luzon, at +43 and +39, respectively, and “moderately strong” among those living in Mindanao and the Visayas at +23 and +18, respectively.
“The March 2019 Social Weather Survey was conducted from March 28-31, 2019 using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao),” SWS noted.
/atm