MANILA, Philippines — A majority of Filipinos, or 64%, expressed distrust toward China in July, according to the latest survey by private polling firm OCTA Research.

Only 14% of respondents expressed trust toward China, while 21% remained undecided.

The July distrust rating was 9 percentage points higher than the 55% recorded in March. OCTA said the increase reversed the declining pattern in distrust observed since 2024.

“This suggests that more Filipinos are moving away from uncertainty and settling into a firmer—and increasingly distrustful—view of China,” OCTA said in its report released Wednesday, July 22.

Distrust linked to West Philippine Sea

OCTA said Filipinos' distrust remains significantly linked to developments in the West Philippine Sea, where the Philippines and China both assert territorial claims.

“Filipino attitudes toward China remain dynamic and closely connected to the salience of the West Philippine Sea in national discourse,” OCTA said.

It also noted that efforts by the government, civil society groups and the media to keep the public informed about developments in the WPS have kept the issue at the center of national discourse, adding that the “sustained and credible information environment” significantly shapes Filipinos’ understanding of developments involving China.

“These findings underscore the continuing importance of a sustained, credible, and transparent information environment in shaping public opinion on foreign policy and national security issues,” OCTA said.

Distrust highest among poorest

OCTA's survey results also showed that the poorest sector and respondents with no formal or elementary education expressed the highest levels of distrust.

Distrust was widespread across all socioeconomic classes, but the highest rate, at 67%, was recorded in Class E, the population segment consisting of the poorest Filipinos with extremely low incomes, such as small-scale fishers.

Class ABC, or the affluent to middle class, logged a 66% distrust rate, while Class D, or the low- to lower-middle-income class, recorded a 63% distrust rate.

Moreover, 69% of Filipinos with no formal or elementary education expressed distrust, the highest rate among all educational attainment groups.

This was followed by a 65% distrust rate among college or postgraduate respondents, 63% among high school respondents and 60% among those with vocational education.

The survey results came amid renewed tensions following a reported assault by the China Coast Guard on a Philippine Navy sailor near Ayungin Shoal.

“The latest survey shows that this pattern has now reversed, with distrust increasing and ambivalence declining, indicating that many previously undecided Filipinos have adopted a more skeptical view of China,” OCTA said.

The survey was conducted from July 4 to 11, a week before the 10th anniversary of the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The respondents were 1,200 male and female Filipinos aged 18 and above who were personally interviewed across the country. The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.