South China Sea: what do Filipinos think about the Manila-Beijing row?

“China’s continuous military build-up and aggressive manoeuvres in the West Philippine Sea increase tensions and make diplomatic resolutions more difficult. The Philippines needs to stand firm and seek international support to counter these actions,” he said.

Tancioco said the clash between the Chinese coastguard and Philippine sailors was infuriating, while also expressing hopelessness about the Philippine military’s capabilities.

The skirmish could set a precedent and eventually lead to the death of a Filipino that would be considered an act of war, said Anton Hipolito, a software engineer.

“This will then invoke the mutual defence treaty where the United States would have to step in this conflict and in turn would lead to an actual armed conflict,” he said.

Edgie Ruiz, an executive vice-president of a company that courts investments from Chinese state-owned companies for Philippine infrastructure projects, blamed local media for blowing scenarios such as the June 17 clash out of proportion.

“[Local media] tends to sensationalise things. I met a Taiwanese friend recently and asked him about the tensions there … he said things were normal. When it comes to Filipino media, they always want to appeal to readers’ emotions,” he said.

Yet some Filipinos say the situation remains unchanged despite the increased domestic news coverage.

“I think it’s mostly keeping with the status quo, with more coverage,” said Keisha Constantino, who teaches at a state university and said she didn’t think the issue was really worsening.

“We are still doing business with China,” Ruiz said, adding that he believed the maritime dispute in the South China Sea “was a lost cause”.

An April survey by polling firm WRNumero found that seven in 10 Filipinos, or