Patricia Lourdes Viray
MANILA, Philippines — Only six percent of Filipinos consider defending Philippine territory against foreigners one of the most urgent issues in the country, the latest Pulse Asia survey suggests.
Pulse Asia Research Director Ana Maria Tabunda said that the survey result reflects the fact that foreign policy issues are not "close to the gut" for Filipinos as there are more pressing concerns.
University of the Philippines Institute on Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea Director Jay Batongbacal, meanwhile, said that there was no effort on the part of the government to raise awareness on the disputed West Philippines from the 1970s until the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III.
In 2014, the Philippine government filed an arbitration case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration against China's nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea, part of which is called the West Philippine Sea.
It was only during the Aquino administration that the Department of Foreign Affairs engaged media organizations and raised public opinion on the issue.
"In 2014, there was a focus in government effort to raise discourse and public awareness... It was really a show of support for the arbitration," Batongbacal said in a press briefing after the release of the survey results at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City.
Read the full story at Philstar