MORE FILIPINOS were opposed to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) during the second quarter of 2024, at the height of the probes into the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, Alice Guo.
A national survey by Oculum Research and Analytics indicated that 72 percent of respondents were either very unsupportive or unsupportive of POGOs in Q2, a significant increase from 52 percent in the first quarter.
This was the most substantial rise in levels of “unsupportive” and “very unsupportive” responses across 19 national issues surveyed, which included same-sex marriage, divorce, and the Philippines’s partnership with China.
Support for POGOs conversely went down to just 5 percent from 14 percent.
Controversies surrounding POGOs were thrust into the national spotlight in April when the Department of the Interior and Local Government launched a task force to probe Guo’s links to illegal POGO activities in Bamban.
Guo was preventively suspended on June 3 following Senate investigations that looked into her real identity and alleged links to Chinese criminal syndicates. The Senate ordered her arrest on July 13.
Guo, who was found to be a Chinese national who had faked her Philippine birth certificate to run for public office, was dismissed from service on Aug. 13 by the Office of the Ombudsman.
POGOs were banned from the Philippines by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in July, citing financial scams, money laundering, and human trafficking, among other illegal activities.
“The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop. Kailangan nang itigil ang panggulo na ito sa ating lipunan at paglalapastangan sa ating bansa,” Marcos Jr. said in his third State of the Nation Address.
Initiatives garnering the highest levels of public support in the Oculum survey were the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (88 percent), the fight against illicit drugs (83 percent), and efforts against climate change (80 percent).
The survey was conducted from June 25 to 30 and was participated in by 1,200 randomly selected respondents nationwide.
Souring public opinion vs China
The Oculum survey also noted an across-the-board decline in Filipinos’ approval and positive sentiment toward China, as Beijing continues its incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
China’s trustworthiness went down to six percent from 17 percent in Q1. Conversely, the percentage of respondents who said China was either very untrustworthy or untrustworthy shot up to 66 percent from 38 percent.
More Filipinos expressed disapproval of the Philippines exploring partnerships with China: 75 percent of the respondents thumbed down collaborations with Beijing, up from 58 percent in Q1.
Assoc. Prof. Dennis Coronacion, Oculum’s chief political analyst and chair of the UST Department of Political Science, said the survey results on issues relating to China reflected Filipinos’ approval of the standing foreign policy.
“Filipinos really feel strongly about our foreign policy. The ongoing sentiment is that they support the current foreign policy of the Bongbong Marcos administration,” Coronacion said.
“Our foreign policy is obviously pro-US, and Filipinos are saying, ‘Tama yan,’” he added. “The Filipinos are expressing their approval of such kind of decision by the president.”
Regarding the Philippines’s possible courses of action should violence ensue in the West Philippine Sea, 35 percent believed the Philippines should defend its waters against China, up from 31 percent.
Washington’s military assistance should be sought, according to 26 percent of respondents, while only 10 percent believed the Philippines should pursue peace with China.
The majority of the Oculum respondents, or 53 percent, preferred that the Philippines took the side of the United States in the issue. This number dwarfed the measly one percent of participants who said the country should align itself with China.
Among incidents captured by the Q2 survey was the ramming of Filipino coast guard vessels by China on June 17, during which at least eight Filipinos were injured, including a sailor who lost a thumb. Fernando Pierre Marcel B. de la Cruz
