Most Filipinos Would Rather Resist Than Yield

By Cliff Potts, CSO and Editor-in-Chief WPS News

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte, Philippines — Most Filipinos are not asking their country to stand alone in the West Philippine Sea. They are asking it not to stand down.

A new Pulse Asia survey commissioned by the Stratbase Institute found that 86% of Filipinos support working with like-minded nations to defend the West Philippine Sea, a clear signal that public opinion remains firmly behind resistance to China’s expanding maritime pressure. The poll, conducted from May 3 to 7, 2026, asked 1,500 respondents whether the Philippines should defend the West Philippine Sea with partner countries in accordance with the 2016 arbitral award.

The answer was not close. Only 3% disagreed, while 11% said they could not say.

The strongest support came from Mindanao, where 91% agreed, followed by the National Capital Region at 90%. That matters. This is not merely a Manila foreign-policy discussion. The West Philippine Sea issue has become a national sovereignty issue, understood across regions as something larger than one reef, one shoal, or one diplomatic protest.

Allies, Not Isolation

When respondents were asked which countries or organizations the Philippines should work with, the United States topped the list at 84%. Japan followed at 67%, Australia at 57%, Canada at 51%, and South Korea at 44%.

Those numbers show something important: Filipinos are not simply reacting emotionally to China. They are identifying which countries they believe can help defend a rules-based order in Philippine waters.

Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit said the results suggest Filipinos distinguish between countries that support the Philippines’ lawful rights in the West Philippine Sea and those whose actions contribute to regional tensions.

That is the heart of the matter. The Philippines is not choosing war. It is choosing not to be isolated.

The Legal Ground Is Already There

The West Philippine Sea dispute is often described as complicated, but the legal center is not mysterious. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s sweeping “nine-dash line” claim had no legal basis under international law where it exceeded the maritime rights allowed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The ruling did not settle every sovereignty question over every feature in the South China Sea. It did, however, strike directly at the legal foundation of China’s expansive maritime claim. It also affirmed that parts of the disputed area, including features tied to the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, fall under Philippine maritime rights.

China rejected the ruling. The Philippines did not.

That is why the survey matters. Public support for alliances is not just about military hardware or diplomatic visits. It is about enforcing a legal victory that the Filipino people have not forgotten.

A Public Hardened by Pressure

The survey comes amid continued confrontations, protests, and warnings over Chinese activity in contested waters, including recent concerns over a floating structure at Scarborough Shoal. Philippine officials have warned against any attempt to turn the shoal into another artificial island or military outpost.

For many Filipinos, this is no longer abstract diplomacy. It touches fishing rights, food security, maritime access, national dignity, and the basic question of whether a smaller country can defend its lawful rights against a much larger power.

China’s strategy has depended heavily on normalization: the steady pressure of coast guard vessels, maritime militia, water cannons, blockades, close approaches, and repeated claims of control until the unacceptable starts to feel routine.

The survey suggests that strategy is not working on the Filipino public.

A Country That Knows Occupation

The Philippines has spent centuries dealing with foreign powers — Spanish colonial rule, American rule, Japanese occupation, Cold War dependence, and now the gray-zone pressure of a rising China. That history matters. Filipinos know what it means when a stronger power insists that submission is the price of peace.

There is a stubbornness in the national character that outsiders often misunderstand. It is not loud every day. It is not always organized. It is not always pretty. But it is there.

That stubbornness is now showing up in the numbers.

The Message Is Clear

The Pulse Asia survey does not mean Filipinos want reckless confrontation. It means they understand the danger of backing down.

The public appears to support a strategy built on law, diplomacy, deterrence, and partnerships. That is the right mix. The Philippines cannot match China ship for ship. It cannot win a contest of intimidation alone. But it can stand on international law, expose coercion, strengthen its coast guard and navy, protect fisherfolk, and work with countries that have a stake in keeping the Indo-Pacific open.

Most Filipinos would rather resist than yield.

That is not a small thing. It is the political foundation any serious Philippine government needs if it intends to defend the West Philippine Sea for the long haul.

References

Daily Guardian. (2026, June 15). 86% of Filipinos favor alliances to defend West Philippine Sea.

Permanent Court of Arbitration. (2016, July 12). The South China Sea Arbitration: The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China.

Associated Press. (2026, June 2026). The Philippines protests China’s floating structure on the disputed South China Sea shoal.

Reuters. (2026, June 2026). Philippines urges China to remove shoal structure, warns against island-building.