The most usual reason we have heard from the majority of the respondents who says the shoal belongs to the Philippines is the fact that Scarborough shoal is closer to the Philippine's land than China's. They usually point out that it is within our naval area of responsibility, so therefore, it is covered by our territorial claims. A few also stated that the Philippine maps from the ancient times include the Scarborough Shoal as part of our country's land. For the 7.82% of our respondent, they think both states have equal rights for the shoal because they both have a reasonable and legitimate reason on claiming Scarborough. Philippines mentioned that the shoal is within our naval territory and our area of responsibility encompasses it. But China defends their stand by saying that it is within the bounds of the South China Sea, a sea long-claimed by the Chinese, so therefore, anything within the South China Sea belongs to them, including the Scarborough Shoal.
Moving on to the 6th question of our research, we were able to collect different answers to the question: What action can you recommend to the local government on resolving the dispute? We have already provided the respondents 7 choices that are applicable for the resolution of the issue namely: war, negotiations, treaties, joint exploration/fishing, boycotting of Chinese products, back listing China, and state visits of President Benigno Aquino III to China. Though we provided them choices, we are still tolerant to their own proposed resolution to the territorial dispute and we accepted multiple answers. The graph below illustrates the tally of the answers of our respondents,
Moving on to the 6th question of our research, we were able to collect different answers to the question: What action can you recommend to the local government on resolving the dispute? We have already provided the respondents 7 choices that are applicable for the resolution of the issue namely: war, negotiations, treaties, joint exploration/fishing, boycotting of Chinese products, back listing China, and state visits of President Benigno Aquino III to China. Though we provided them choices, we are still tolerant to their own proposed resolution to the territorial dispute and we accepted multiple answers. The graph below illustrates the tally of the answers of our respondents,
Chart 2 illustrates how the majority of the respondents want to resolve the conflict without disrupting world peace and order, suggested by the factor that negotiations and treaties are the most answered resolution. 61 respondents said that negotiations could resolve the conflict while 48 suggests that signing treaties that would agree to avoid violent confrontation, which can also subdue the tension. The third most picked proposal is the increase in the frequency of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's state visit to China, agreed by 21 of our respondents. Most of our respondents rejected this option believing that state visits are costly and most of the previous state visits ended unprofitably for the Philippines. 10 respondents suggested joint exploration, believing that through 50-50 percentages on the division of rights over the Scarborough Shoal could possibly satisfy both states. But the idea was again rejected by most because of the fact that China is considered a progressive and aggressive country, which means there's a small probability that they are planning to share the shoal with anybody else, not forgetting the fact that China is an industrial country in need for an abundant supply of oil, which can be provided by the Scarborough.
Incidentally, the three most vicious and brutal recommended solutions are also the three choices that was least agreed by the respondents. 2 of the respondents, which is only 3.17% of the total respondents, are willing to resort to war in order to achieve territorial rights for the shoal. It is presumed that these two individuals are not aware of the military capabilities of our adversary. According to our research, China is the highest-spending country in Asia in terms of military equipments, war armaments, and combat technologies. If Philippines is planning on a violent war against a superpower state like China, it will be suicidal. Boycotting products from China is also being argued by most of our respondents, supported by the detail that only 1 agreed with it. According to those who opposed the idea, boycotting Chinese products will not resolve the issue, instead, it would plant roots to more tensions. In defense of the only one who agreed with the boycotting idea, he believes that boycotting Chinese products will serve as a response and revenge on how China stopped accepting imported bananas from the Philippines. Unsurprisingly, no one agreed with the option of black listing China. It is due to the reality that China plays a big part on our tourism, trade and overseas employment; it is generally us that will suffer if we would resort to such aggressive step.
Upon giving our respondents seven options that could reduce the tension of theterritorial conflict, 2 respondents suggested their own proposed resolution. One of their proposals is to bring the issue to a world organization like the United Nations (UN) or world court and let it decide on who holds rights from the shoal. The decision made by the world court will be final and must be accepted both states no matter whom it favors. Another proposed resolution that we got from one of our respondents is the stepping back of the Philippines on their fight to claim the shoal. According to the respondent, it would totally eradicate the chance that a war will occur between a superpower state (China) and a weakly armed developing country (Philippines). But on the downside of this idea, the money spent our government to resolve the issue will be put into waste.
Incidentally, the three most vicious and brutal recommended solutions are also the three choices that was least agreed by the respondents. 2 of the respondents, which is only 3.17% of the total respondents, are willing to resort to war in order to achieve territorial rights for the shoal. It is presumed that these two individuals are not aware of the military capabilities of our adversary. According to our research, China is the highest-spending country in Asia in terms of military equipments, war armaments, and combat technologies. If Philippines is planning on a violent war against a superpower state like China, it will be suicidal. Boycotting products from China is also being argued by most of our respondents, supported by the detail that only 1 agreed with it. According to those who opposed the idea, boycotting Chinese products will not resolve the issue, instead, it would plant roots to more tensions. In defense of the only one who agreed with the boycotting idea, he believes that boycotting Chinese products will serve as a response and revenge on how China stopped accepting imported bananas from the Philippines. Unsurprisingly, no one agreed with the option of black listing China. It is due to the reality that China plays a big part on our tourism, trade and overseas employment; it is generally us that will suffer if we would resort to such aggressive step.
Upon giving our respondents seven options that could reduce the tension of theterritorial conflict, 2 respondents suggested their own proposed resolution. One of their proposals is to bring the issue to a world organization like the United Nations (UN) or world court and let it decide on who holds rights from the shoal. The decision made by the world court will be final and must be accepted both states no matter whom it favors. Another proposed resolution that we got from one of our respondents is the stepping back of the Philippines on their fight to claim the shoal. According to the respondent, it would totally eradicate the chance that a war will occur between a superpower state (China) and a weakly armed developing country (Philippines). But on the downside of this idea, the money spent our government to resolve the issue will be put into waste.