Metro Manila, Philippines – Majority of Filipino voters prefer candidates who believe that the nation should assert its rights against China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea, a recent commissioned Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

A Stratbase-commissioned poll found that 78% of Filipinos support candidates running for the May 2025 polls who want rights to be asserted in the West Philippine Sea, while only 22% back those who oppose this position.

Support for asserting rights against China is highest in Metro Manila at 87% and lowest at Mindanao at 67%.

Meanwhile, the same survey showed that 77% of the participants agreed that the Philippines should strengthen alliances with other countries to defend the country’s territorial and economic rights in the contested waters.

Among the respondents, SWS said 14% were against building stronger allies “through joint patrols, joint sails and joint military exercises.”

The survey was conducted on Feb. 15 to 19 with face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters nationwide: 300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon, 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao.

SWS said sampling error margins were ±2.31% for national percentages, ±3.27% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.66% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.