Editor’s Note: The firm that released the survey is Pulse Asia, not the Social Weather Stations as we earlier reported. We apologize for this error. 

MANILA, Philippines – Unlike President Rodrigo Duterte, a big majority of Filipinos trust the US while they distrust China and Russia, said a Pulse Asia survey released on Thursday, January 12.

Pulse Asia said 76% of Filipinos trust the US, the Philippines’ former colonizer from which Duterte wants to move away.

On the other hand, 61% of Filipinos distrust China and 58% feel the same way about Russia, the two American rivals with which Duterte seeks stronger alliances.

The survey was conducted from December 6 to 11, 2016, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adult respondents.

The survey has an error margin of ± 3%.

This comes as Duterte forges an independent foreign policy that junks “subservience” to the US, and seeks “non-traditional” partners.

In its survey, Pulse Asia also said 74% of Filipinos trust the United Nations, which Duterte has slammed for its supposed hypocrisy over human rights.

It reported that 70% of Filipinos also trust Japan, whose prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is arriving in the Philippines on Thursday for a two-day visit.

At the same time, 55% of Filipinos distrust Great Britain while around the same percentage of Filipinos either trust (50%) or distrust (47%) the European Union. 

The survey period coincided with the election of Donald Trump as US president and the congratulatory phone call of Duterte to Trump. 

The survey period also covered the observance of International Human Rights Day. – Rappler.com