(UPDATE) A MAJORITY of Filipinos distrust China and view Beijing as a threat, according to the latest survey conducted by OCTA Research.
In its fourth-quarter Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from Dec. 3 to 11, 2025, 60 percent, or six out of 10 Filipinos, said they distrust China, only 13 percent said they trusted that country and 25 percent were undecided.
While the figure remains high, it is a 25-percent drop from the last time the question was asked in July 2025, with reductions in distrust observed across all major areas and socioeconomic classes.
The highest distrust was recorded in Balanced Luzon at 63 percent and the National Capital Region (NCR) at 62 percent, while Mindanao had the highest percentage of those who trust China at 18 percent.
Class E respondents were the highest among socioeconomic classes who distrust China at 70 percent.
OCTA said that there is a “broad-based distrust toward China” across demographic, regional and socioeconomic groups.
“While small pockets of higher trust exist in specific regions and among younger age groups, skepticism remains the dominant sentiment nationwide, with ambivalence persisting among roughly one in four adult Filipinos,” OCTA said.
It said that while trust in China edged downward slightly, the more pronounced change over time has been a reduction in expressed distrust.
Meanwhile, nearly eight out of 10 Filipinos, or 79 percent, view Beijing as its greatest threat, an increase of 5 percentage points from 74 percent in July 2025.
OCTA said that the country has been identified by a clear majority of Filipinos as the country’s greatest threat consistently from January 2021 to December 2025.
“The rise between July and December 2025 suggests that public concern remains responsive to contemporary developments, yet operates within an already established baseline of high threat perception. Rather than representing a sudden shift, the increase appears to be an intensification of an existing dominant view,” OCTA said.
The biggest number of respondents who considered China a threat came from NCR at 84 percent, while Class D and E were among the highest who said that China is the greatest threat to the Philippines at 80 percent.
The survey had 1,200 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Reacting to the survey, Deputy Speaker and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega said that the findings affirm the Marcos administration’s position is aligned with public sentiment.
“President Marcos has been clear and consistent: we will defend what is ours, anchored on law and diplomacy, our soldiers, Coast Guard personnel and fishermen are on the frontlines every day. While others debate, Filipinos stand watch,” Ortega said.
