Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 16) — Beyond the COVID-19 threat, Filipinos saw climate change, unemployment and economic recession, and increased military tensions as the top three challenges faced by Southeast Asia in 2023, the latest State of Southeast Asia survey found.
According to the study published on Feb. 9, respondents from the Philippines ranked climate change and more intense and frequent weather events as the highest threat across the region.
The ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute noted that \”76.8% of Philippine respondents say that climate change is their biggest threat, overtaking unemployment and recession, as the pain of destruction is felt most acutely from Typhoon Nalgae (Paeng) at the end of October 2022.\”
More than half also picked joblessness (60.6%) and increased military tensions arising from potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, and the Korean Peninsula (50.5%).
Compared to last year, Filipinos ranked the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and armed hostilities as the top three challenges in Southeast Asia, having one of the highest numbers in these concerns across the region.
Meanwhile, the majority of Southeast Asians (59.5%) fear unemployment and economic recession this year as the region tries to bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, followed by the worsening climate (57.1%).
Widening socio-economic gaps and rising income disparity, and increased military tensions shared the third spot (41.9%).
For the survey’s fifth edition, the ASEAN Studies Centre polled 1,308 Southeast Asian nationals affiliated with the academe, private sector, government, civil society, and regional or international groups from Nov. 14, 2022 to Jan. 6, 2023. Filipinos comprised 7.6% of the total number.
It also reported the rising frustration directed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was described as being \”slow and ineffective\” resulting in its inability to \”cope with fluid political and economic developments and becoming irrelevant in the new world order.\”
The survey found it remained the top concern of most Southeast Asians (82.6% up from last year’s 70.1%), followed by the view that \”ASEAN is becoming an arena of major power competition and its member states may become major power proxies.\”
Likewise, more respondents saw that the 10-member ASEAN is becoming \”increasingly disunited\” and being \”elitist and disconnected from the ordinary people,\” ranking third and fourth, respectively.
Fewer respondents think that ASEAN would be unable to recover from the pandemic, with only around 37% selecting it as one of their top three concerns out of the five choices, lower than last year’s 49%.
Aside from Southeast Asians’ top concerns, the survey explored the perception of respondents on major powers that influence the region.
For example, the study found that the majority of respondents (82.9%) were concerned over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
They said the rise in energy and food prices, erosion of trust in a rules-based order and violation of national sovereignty, and increase in existing divisions within ASEAN were the most serious impacts on the region.
The study also reported that China remained the most influential economic and political-strategic power in Southeast Asia, but at least 6 out of 10 respondents said they were worried about the East Asian giant’s expanding influence in the ASEAN.
READ: Filipinos, other Southeast Asians do not trust China to do the right thing for global peace — study
High distrust levels were also noticed in Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore when asked if China will \”do the right thing\” toward global peace and security.
