Survey finds Filipinos retain trust in Uncle Sam, while rejecting China

trust

The US retains the trust of most ordinary Filipinos, while China and Russia are regarded with distrust, a Pulse Asia survey has found.

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The survey, conducted from December 14 to 21, showed that 84 per cent of Filipinos said they trusted Uncle Sam.

This is despite President Duterte’s friendly relations with China — which is trusted by only 40 per cent of people.

In the case of Russia, 54 per cent said “a little or no trust at all” in the country.

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Other countries trusted by Filipinos are Japan (75 per cent), Australia (72) and Great Britain (57).

However, the situation is very different for Mindanao in the poll released today (Monday, January 14). Here, the US only managed a trust rating of 74 per cent, while 54 per cent trusted Russia.

A similar survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2017 and published last February returned much the same results. 

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Social Weather Stations survey found that just three countries received “very good” net trust (percentage ‘much trust’ minus percentage ‘little trust’). The findings were “moderate” for six countries, “neutral” for four countries and “poor” for one country.

The three very trusted nations were the US at +68, Canada at +55 and Japan at +54.

Moderate net trust ratings were recorded for Singapore at +29, Malaysia at +20, Thailand at +19, Indonesia at +18, Brunei at +16 and Vietnam at +13.

It found neutral net trust ratings for Myanmar at +8, Cambodia at +7, China at +7, and Laos at +3, with a poor rating of -19 for North Korea.

Reacting to today’s survey, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said it was “understandable” that Filipinos trusted the US more than China. 

“It’s understandable for Filipinos to feel that way because ngayon pa lang eh. We’ve been used to the United States being our ally so mas sanay tayo sa Amerika (we’re more used to America),” he said.

“It takes some time for people to accept certain changes that they are not used to.”

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