3 out of 5 Filipinos believe China held back info on coronavirus — poll

MANILA, Philippines — Three out of five Filipinos believe accusations from other countries that China held back important information about the coronavirus disease from the world, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Tuesday.

The survey results showed that 61 percent said that they believe the accusations. This is a rounded-off number as 28 percent said they “strongly believe” the accusations, while 33 percent of respondents said that “somewhat believe” of China withholding vital information.

Meanwhile, 23 percent said that they do not believe the accusations of other countries, while the remaining 15 percent that they were undecided.

And of those who said they believe the accusations, 77 percent said that China should be held accountable for not immediately sharing important information.

Fifteen percent said that they do not agree that China should be held accountable, while seven percent were undecided about the issue.

Beijing was hounded with international criticisms, such as from the United States, over how it handled the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its origins.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Latest numbers from John Hopkins University showed that 13.1 million worldwide have been infected with COVID-19, of which 573,042 have died.

To date, the Philippines has 57,006 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 20, 371 recoveries, and 1,599 fatalities.

The latest SWS survey carried questions sponsored by the Stratbase Albert Del Rosario (ADR) Institute, an international think tank eponymously named after its founding chairman, former Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert Del Rosario, who was among those who initiated filing of the petition before the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The poll was conducted using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), and interviewed 1,555 adult Filipinos (18 years old and above) nationwide.

The survey also had a sampling error margins of ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, and ±5 percent for Balance Luzon, ±5 percent Visayas, and ±5 percent in Mindanao.

EDV