“The President’s ardent critics and detractors have become desperate in employing its anti-China card against the Duterte administration,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement Monday. Critics have accused Duterte of being too soft on China on the South China Sea row and Beijing’s occupation of disputed areas. Panelo claimed critics have tried unsuccessfully to create “fear and hatred” against the foreign policies of the administration twice. He said this would enable Filipinos to have a deeper understanding and better appreciation of the reasons that prompted President Duterte to seek broader diplomatic relations. The non-commissioned SWS poll surveyed face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults and had a sampling error margin of ±2.6 percent for national percentages.

Source: Philippine Star April 09, 2019 16:05 UTC