The United States and Japan remain the Philippines' most important partners for advancing economic security, according to a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by advisory and research consultancy Stratbase Group.

Seventy-three percent of respondents identified the US as the Philippines' most important economic partner, followed by Japan at 62%. Canada received 35%, Australia 30%, and South Korea 21%. About 20% of respondents viewed the United Kingdom as a trusted economic partner, while the European Union and China each registered 14%. Taiwan was named by 11% and India by 2%.

Victor Andres C. Manhit, president and chief executive officer of Stratbase Group, said the preference for the US and Japan reflects confidence in both countries' interest in advancing Philippine economic security. The two nations are perceived as able to help the Philippines "expand investments, strengthen critical infrastructure and secure our place in emerging technology supply chains," Mr. Manhit said. Preference readings of this kind serve as a barometer of popular sentiment toward the foreign partners seen as backing investment, infrastructure and technology cooperation in the country — a signal that both policymakers and prospective investors tend to track alongside official diplomacy.

Japan's preference rating climbed 10 percentage points from July, while favorable views of the US rose by 2 percentage points. Both countries are founding partners of the Luzon Economic Corridor, a project seeking to improve connectivity among the key economic hubs of Luzon: Metro Manila, Subic, Clark, and Batangas. The corridor ties the sentiment shift to a concrete undertaking: Subic and Clark, developed on former US military bases and now operating as free port zones, and Batangas, a major port and industrial gateway south of the capital, anchor the route the two top-rated partners are working to link.

Stratbase also noted a 3-percentage-point decline in confidence in China, likely linked to the ongoing territorial dispute in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway.

"China's standing among Filipinos continues to be shaped by what they see and experience in the region. The preference rating could even be in the single digits were it not for Mindanao, the only region where China has consistently maintained a double-digit preference," Mr. Manhit said.

Pulse Asia surveyed 2,400 respondents from Sept. 17 to 23. With July as the comparison point, the results can be followed wave over wave, and the near-term markers to watch are whether the gains for Washington and Tokyo hold in future rounds and how the Luzon Economic Corridor progresses on the ground.

The survey results were first reported by BusinessWorld, with reporting by Beatriz Marie D. Cruz.