Pinoys oppose AFP intervention in politics - OCTA

Seven in 10 Filipinos are not in favor of military intervention in political disputes, a recent survey by the OCTA Research group showed.

- By JANVIC MATEO

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Sept. 25 to 30, found that 70 percent of the respondents do not agree with calls from some sectors for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to participate in the current political situation in the Philippines.

Only five percent agreed to military intervention, while 22 percent were undecided. The remaining three percent said they do not know.

The poll was conducted following reports that some retired military officers were actively pushing for a coup to topple the Marcos government.

Across areas, disagreement with AFP intervention in politics was highest among those in Mindanao (79 percent), followed by those in Metro Manila (78 percent), Visayas (71 percent) and rest of Luzon (63 percent).

“The findings make clear that any attempt by the military to settle or influence political disputes would not gain the backing of a majority of Filipinos and would likely be met with broad public opposition,” OCTA said in its analysis of the findings.