Conducted on March 22 to 27, 2022, it also showed that 7 of 10 Dabawenyos believed that the next President should also remain neutral.
The results of the survey also coincides with the recent pronouncements of President Rodrigo Duterte on pursuing an independent foreign policy and neutrality of the country, despite his deep concern on the fate of Ukraine and its citizens, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin failing to arrive in consensus to the former’s impending North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership.
In a speech delivered in Palo, Leyte, recently, Duterte refused to take sides, saying he would rather not interfere in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Itong neutrality na ‘to, we just maintain it,” Duterte said during the inauguration of the new Leyte Provincial Capitol and the turnover of various government projects in Eastern Visayas.
The survey was launched to know the Dabawenyos’ perceptions on the Russia-Ukraine war. The survey also sought to know the awareness of Dabawenyos on the responsible actors in the war, and whether the war has an effect on Philippine politics and economy.
Eight of 10 Dabawenyos also believe that the war of the two countries affects the Philippines on varying yet significant levels.
“Proof of such an effect could be seen in the sudden skyrocketing of oil and gas prices in the country in the recent weeks, attributed to the spike of global crude oil price per barrel,” the UM-IPO survey said.
Dabawenyos were also divided in their perception of who is at fault in the current military occupation of Russia and Ukraine.
It showed that 4 of 10 Dabawenyos blamed North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) countries to include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union.
While nearly 3 of 10 Dabawenyos blamed the Russian Federation and 2 of 10 said that Ukraine was at fault in the war.
Meanwhile, 4 of 10 Dabawenyos also believed that Russia invading Ukraine is not the right thing to do, adding the war with Ukraine should be the last resort or option.
The UM IPO survey was done online and targeted social media users who are Dabawenyos and who meet the inclusion criteria.
The survey was disseminated via sponsored ads in two Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Respondents were at least 18 years old and have valid/active email addresses.
The Survey was done at 95% confidence level and 3% margin of error.
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