As tensions rise in the West Philippine Sea, more Filipinos on social media resort to prayers for the peaceful resolution of the territorial disputes, according to the latest sentiment analysis conducted by Capstone-Intel Corporation.
The territorial disputes issue was widely discussed online with up to 360 daily posts or a total of 2,323 posts within the period June 18-25, with reactions reaching 595,159 based on the social media scan of publicly available Facebook data.
The Facebook post on ‘Oratio Imperata Grave Tension in the West Philippine Sea’ of the Philippine Catholic Churches gained the highest positive reactions with 3,700 love and 3,100 likes.
At the same time, Palawan News’ Facebook post about the “Monster” ship of the China Coast Guard (CCG) triggered the highest angry reactions at 9,800 as well as 21,000 sad reactions.
Of the 2,323 posts on Facebook about the West Philippine Sea, 40 percent likes, 13 percent love, 16 percent haha, 1 percent wow, 20 percent sad and the remaining 10 percent are angry. The engagement score is computed as (comments+reactions)0.1+shares.
The most engaging post is Oratio Imperata in Time of Grave Tension in the West Philippine Sea from the Facebook page of the Philippine Catholic Churches obtained with highest engagement score of 33,952, followed by Palawan News at 19,037.
At the same time, the news on the Chinese largest vessel near El Nido triggered more sadness than anger based on the emoticon data. In fact, the post with the highest angry has 21,000 sad and 9,800 angry reactions respectively.
“The very high engagement score of 33,000 on ‘Oratio Imperata’ compared with the Palawan News’ post on China’s Monster vessel is very telling that Filipinos would resort to prayers than being enraged on the issue,” said Atty. Nicasio Conti, chief executive officer of Capstone-Intel Corp. in a press release.
Also, the sentiment analysis report on the West Philippine Sea reveals that Filipinos are highly concerned about the country’s welfare on territorial disputes with China and show their love for the Philippines.
The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, with more than 80 percent of its population as Catholics.
Last May, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called for a ‘stubborn’ civilian presence as a peaceful resolution to the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea “instead of a joint military show-of-force.”
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For more information and interview opportunities regarding surveys, you may contact Capstone-Intel’s Research and Publications Director, Ella Kristina Domingo-Coronel at 09565711298.
Capstone-Intel is a high-impact research company that uses innovative research technologies, tools, and methods to convert data and information into breakthrough insights and actionable intelligence outputs. It is committed to helping its clients solve problems, find solutions, grow markets and constituencies, build reputations, navigate risks, manage crises, and be the country’s leading private research and intelligence agency.
