Most Philippine voters won’t support pro-China candidates in 2025 elections: survey

Such views are driven by concerns over the South China Sea dispute and pro-China candidates undermining national security, an analyst says

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Voters pass by campaign posters outside a polling centre in Quezon City in 2022. More than 66 million registered Filipinos will cast their votes for over 18,280 candidates vying for posts across the country during midterm elections next May. Photo: AP

Published: 6:50pm, 15 Oct 2024Updated: 6:57pm, 15 Oct 2024

The vast majority of Filipinos will not support politicians with pro-China views in next year’s midterm elections, according to a new survey, highlighting the potential risks for candidates seen as sympathetic to Beijing.

About 73 per cent of 2,400 respondents in the Philippines said they would not “support a candidate in the May 2025 national elections who is pro-China at present or in the past”, findings from a survey conducted by polling company Pulse Asia showed.

Only 5 per cent of those surveyed said they would support pro-China candidates, while 23 per cent were undecided, according to the survey conducted between September 6 and 13.

Dindo Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute, which commissioned the Pulse Asia survey released on Monday, said the results reflected widespread scepticism towards candidates seen as too close to Beijing, driven by concerns over disputes in the South China Sea and fears that such ties could undermine national security.

“Electing pro-China candidates poses significant risks, as it will lead to policies that compromise our territorial integrity, [and] economic interests. Such candidates will become direct conduits for Chinese influence, which can jeopardise our national security and further empower a state that has repeatedly disregarded our sovereign rights and the international rules-based order,” Manhit said, according to a report by the Philippine News Agency.

People wait in line to vote at a school in Manila in 2022. The vast majority of Filipinos will not support politicians with pro-China views in next year’s midterm elections, according to a new survey. Photo: AP

More than 66 million registered Filipinos will cast their votes for over 18,280 candidates vying for posts across the country during midterm elections next May.