The net trust rating of Filipinos for China dropped to -33 points as it went from, "poor" to "bad," the Social Weather Stations said Wednesday.
From -24 points in June, China’s net trust rating decreased by nine percentage points in September, according to the polling firm.
Since SWS first surveyed it in August 1994, net trust in China has been positive in only 9 out of 51 polls.
It reached as high as a “moderate” (+17) in June 2010 and as low as a “bad” (-46) in September 2015.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s independent foreign policy drove the Philippines closer to the Asian economic giant, but China has been aggressive in the South China Sea.
On June 9, a Chinese trawler rammed and damaged a Filipino fishing vessel that was anchored at Recto Bank, which sparked anti-China sentiments among Filipinos.
Of the six specific countries tested by SWS, China got the lowest net trust ratings.
The United States maintained an “excellent” rating with +72 points, while Australia and Japan had “good” with +37 and +35, respectively.
Net trust in the United States, the country’s longtime ally, has been positive since SWS first surveyed it in December 1994.
A “moderate” rating was recorded by Singapore (+26) and “neutral” for Vietnam (0).
The poll was conducted from Sept. 27 to 30 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults nationwide with sampling error margins of ±2.3 percent.
