Filipinos think China is the least trustworthy country according to survey

China is getting no love from Filipinos.

That’s based on a study released today by pollster Pulse Asia which shows that a majority of respondents thought that China is the least trustworthy country among those surveyed.

Only 39 percent trusted the superpower, despite its warming relations with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Duterte still refuses to enforce the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which said that there was no legal basis for China’s claims in the disputed West Philippine Sea. This has alarmed many individuals and countries including the United States, Japan, and Australia, all of which issued reminders to the Duterte government to abide by the ruling.

Unsurprisingly, most of Pulse Asia’s respondents thought that the U.S. was the most trustworthy country, with 84 percent saying that they trusted the longtime Philippine ally.

Filipinos have always held a favorable view of the U.S. According to a study conducted in 2017 by the Pew Research Center, 78 percent of Filipinos surveyed thought highly of the U.S.

At one point, specifically in 2014, the Pew Research Center found that 92 percent of their then Filipino respondents had a favorable view of the U.S., much higher than 82 percent of the Americans surveyed who think highly of their own country.

The U.S. only ruled the Philippines for about 50 years but their influence in the country remains until today.  Many Filipinos have family members living in the states and are exposed to American pop culture for most of their lives.

After the U.S., Japan was trusted the most by Filipinos, with 75 percent of respondents saying that they have a great or a fair amount of trust in the country. This was followed by Australia (72 percent), the United Kingdom (57 percent), and Russia (45 percent).

The same survey also asked respondents about their perspective on organizations the Philippines is a part of. A huge percentage of the respondents (82 percent) said they trusted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was trusted by 80 percent of respondents.

Pulse Asia said the results were based on one-on-one interviews with 1,800 respondents. Interviews were conducted on Dec. 14 to 21 last year.