Teodoro: 85% China distrust means ‘malign influence’ ops not effective

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. delivers his speech during the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 1, 2025.  — File photo by Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines — The high rate of mistrust in China means that its supposed “malign influence” operations in the country is not effective, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Tuesday.

Teodoro welcomed the results of an Octa Research survey which revealed that 85 percent of Filipinos distrust China while 74 percent see the regional power as the greatest threat to the Philippines, mainly due to its aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.

READ: 85% of Filipinos distrust China, survey says

“It shows a growing public awareness of the realities facing our country in the West Philippine Sea, and the unwavering resilience of Filipinos against China’s malign influence operations in the country,” Teodoro said in a statement.

Foreign malign influence can be defined as “subversive, undeclared, coercive, or criminal activities by foreign governments, non-state actors, or their proxies to affect another nation’s popular or political attitudes, perceptions, or behaviors to advance their interests,” according to US-based Foreign Malign Influence Center.

Octa also said a great majority of adult Filipinos, or 76 percent, also expressed support for government actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Teodoro also said this survey “is a strong indicator of the acceptance by our people of our efforts to resist attempts to undermine our strategic agency and upend the rules-based international order.”

“The sustained public support for the government’s approach further strengthens our resolve in defending our rights in the West Philippine Sea under international law and affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling,” he continued.

Beijing conducts aggressive moves against Filipino vessels to assert its sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, a move effectively invalidated by a 2016 arbitral award, which ruled heavily in favor of Manila’s sovereign rights.

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the result of the survey strengthened the resolve of the Armed Forces of the Philippines “to protect and secure what is rightfully ours.”

“It adds more legitimacy to our stand — and fight — when you know you have the backing of the vast majority of our people,” Trinidad said in a statement on Monday.

“Issues in the West Philippine Sea are the greatest threat to our existence as a Republic that we all have to face together,” he added. /das