1

CHAPTER 1
The Problem and Its Background
Introduction
The South China Sea or so called West Philippines Sea serves as the battle
ground of the two of many actors, they are the Philippines and China. According to U.S
Energy information Administration (2013), South China Sea can be a possible major
source of gas and oil approximately 11 billion of barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
Under international law there are five principles that guide assessment of claiming
territorial sovereignty. First principle is discovery and occupation exhibiting control.
Second principle is prescription which denotes peaceful transfer of sovereignty under
international law and continued occupation over a long period of time when it actually
belonged to another. Third principle is conquest and annexation. Fourth is cession, which
is the territory is transferred from one to another state. Last principle is accretion and
avulsion where a new territory is added when natural causes happens (Southeast Asian
Affairs 2000, 1974).
Chung, (2013) characterized the disputes in one word antagonistic. Chinese
government has drawn a 9-dashed also called South China Sea dotted line after the World
War 2, this U shaped line map shows the claims of China in the islands and features of
the South China Sea. Wu Shicum, the president of China Institute of South China Sea,
studies in his article, after the Chinese government officially published its Locations of

the South China Sea Islands in 1948 the international community, states bordering on
the South China Sea included, did not raise any objection, nor did any national
government raise any diplomatic issues with China. They all tacitly accepted the
existence of the line. In fact, a number of countries and regions in Europe and America
have published maps to identify areas of the South China Sea inside the dashed line as
territorially belonging to China. Also, Wu Shicum states that Chinas claims over the
South China Sea islands are based on its legitimate rights and the fact that China is the
first country to discover, to name and to exercise sovereignty over the islands.
Philippine claims based on continental shelf and res nullius (Land belongs to no
one), Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS)
allow every state to establish territorial seas around its land areas to limit not exceeding
12 nautical miles. Philippine establish 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
whereas Spratly islands are within the territory. Philippines never claim the main island
of Spratly, (Hurwitt, 1980) Philippine used res nullius its claim because of Thomas
Cloma a Filipino citizen who sailed to the Spratly from 1947-1950 and proclaimed the
archipelago as res nullius and named it Kalayaan(Freedomland).
The Department of Affairs of the Philippines cited on their article on 2012 the
basis of the Philippines over the Scarborough shoal, Bajo de Masinlocs (Scarborough
Shoal) chain of reefs and rocks is about 124 NM from the nearest coast of Luzon and
approximately 472 NM from the nearest coast of China. Bajo de Masinloc is located
approximately along latitude 1508N and longitude 11745E. The rocks of Bajo de

Masinloc are situated north of the Spratlys, therefore, the rocks of Bajo de Masinloc is
also within the 200-NM EEZ and 200-NM continental shelf (CS) of the Philippines.
In the lights of the study, the researchers wanted to measure the degree of
awareness of selected education students of Jose Rizal University about territorial dispute
between the Philippines and China and specifically looked into the relationship of the
measured awareness to that of the respondents profile.

Theoretical framework
This study embraced the theory of Endsley (1995) the situational awareness
theory, Endsley's model illustrates three stages or steps of SA formation: perception,
comprehension, and projection.
Perception (Level 1 SA): The first step in achieving SA is to perceive the status,
attributes, and dynamics of relevant elements in the environment. Thus, Level 1 SA, the
most basic level of SA, involves the processes of monitoring, cue detection, and simple
recognition, which lead to an awareness of multiple situational elements (objects, events,
people, systems, environmental factors) and their current states (locations, conditions,
modes, actions).
Comprehension (Level 2 SA): The next step in SA formation involves a synthesis
of disjointed Level 1 SA elements through the processes of pattern recognition,
interpretation, and evaluation. Level 2 SA requires integrating this information to
understand how it will impact upon the individual's goals and objectives. This includes
developing a comprehensive picture of the world, or of that portion of the world of
concern to the individual.
Projection (Level 3 SA): The third and highest level of SA involves the ability to
project the future actions of the elements in the environment. Level 3 SA is achieved
through knowledge of the status and dynamics of the elements and comprehension of the
situation (Levels 1 and 2 SA), and then extrapolating this information forward in time to
determine how it will affect future states of the operational environment.

Conceptual framework
As depicted in figure 1, there are 4 profile variables served as input in the study
that includes profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, income and major field of
study.
To accomplish the output of the study, that is the degree of awareness of
Education students and analysis of the profile of the student respondents were assessed
using the survey questionnaire.

Input
Profile of the
respondents

Age
Sex
Income
Major field of
study

Awareness of the
Students to
Territorial dispute.

Output

Process
Figure1. Research Paradigm
The
Degree
of
Preparations
Statement of Validations
the Problem
Awareness of Selected
Distribution of
Education Students of
This study aimed to determine The Degree of
questionnaire
Jose Rizal University

Collection
Awareness
of SelectedofEducation Students of Jose Rizal
About
Territorial
data about Territorial
University
Dispute between
Analysis of the
Dispute between the
Philippines and China SY 2014-2015.
profile of the
Philippines and China.
Specifically,
respondentsthis study sought to answer the
following questions;

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age;
1.2 Sex;
1.3 Income; and
1.4 major field of study?
2. What is the degree of awareness of Education Students in territorial dispute?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the degree of awareness of the

respondents when grouped according to the following variables:
3.1 Age;
3.2 Sex;
3.3 Family income;
3.4 major field of study;

Hypothesis
1. There is no significant relationship between the degree of awareness of the
respondents as to their age, sex, family income and field of specialization.
Scope and delimitation
This study covered the degree of awareness of Selected Education students of
Jose Rizal University during the school year 2014-2015 in the issue of territorial dispute
between Philippines and China. The Education students of Jose Rizal University were the
respondents of this study.
Assumptions of the study
1. That the lower income group has the lower degree of awareness in territorial
dispute between Philippines and China.

2. That the major in the social studies has the higher degree of awareness in
territorial dispute between Philippines and China.
Significance of the Study
1. For the teachers and student. They can use the findings of this study and to
provide the data how the students aware about the territorial dispute between
the Philippines and China.
2. Future Researcher. This study will also be beneficial to the future
researchers as their reference.
3. Filipino people. To increase the level of the awareness of the people about the
territorial dispute.
4. For the Authors.. To use the findings as a tool aid of statistical reports
concerning the awareness of the student.
Definition of Terms
For better understanding of the study, the following terms were defined
operationally.
Awareness.Concern about and well informed interest in a particular situation or
development.
Disputes.Disagreement followed by opposition against something.
EEZ. Exclusive Economic Zone,is a concept adopted at the Third United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982), whereby a coastal State assumes

jurisdiction over the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in its adjacent
section of the continental shelf, taken to be a band extending 200 miles from the shore
Res nullius.A thing which has no owner
Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, Bajo de Masinloc is not an island.
Bajo de Masinloc is also not part of the Spratlys.
South China Sea or West Philippines Sea.is a marginal sea that is part of
the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to
the Strait of Taiwan.
Sovereignty.Absolute, supreme and ultimate dominion and authority of a political
state subject to no higher power, expressed within its territory in full self-government and
in complete freedom from any outside influence
Spratly Island.It is a group of islands located in the West Philippine Sea.
UNCLOS, it is also known as the Law of the Sea Treaty, an
international agreement that defined the limits of the territorial seas of
nations and the areas in which they could exploit marine resources.

10

CHAPTER 2
Review of Related Literature and Studies
This chapter presents the review of related literature. Starting with the foreign and
local literature and studies and the last part of the chapter is the synthesis of the review.
Related Literature
Foreign Sources
Strong majorities in the Philippines (90%), Japan (82%), South Korea (77%) and
Indonesia (62%) think that such territorial disputes with China are a big problem for their
country. This is particularly the case in the Philippines, where 58% of Filipinos say such
friction with China is a very big problem. In a related issue, many of Chinas AsianPacific neighbors are quite troubled by Beijings growing military power. Nearly all
Japanese (96%) and South Koreans (91%) and strong majorities of Australians 71%) and
Filipinos (68%) think Chinas expanding martial capabilities are bad for their country,
www.pewglobal.org (2013)
In the 9th Japan-China Public Poll, analysis report on the comparative data in
2013, the existence of a territorial dispute between China and Japan. The public
awareness of the Chinese was higher than the Japanese with a percentage of 80% while
Japanese has 60%, www.genron-npo.net (2013)

11

In 2014, the percentage of awareness of the Japanese and Chinese who recognized
the existence of the territorial dispute between the two countries were 64.3% and 76.2%
respectively according to the 10th Japan-China Public Opinion Poll. In regards to that the
most popular solution to resolve this territorial dispute among Japanese polled was that
"the two countries should promptly precede toward negotiations with a view to resolve
their issues by peaceful means" for about 48.4 %. While Chinese was "to protect its
territory, China should increase its effective control over it" for about 63.7 %,
www.genron-npo.net, (2014)

Local Sources

Valderama ( 2015) the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) commissioned a

Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey in December 2013 to gauge peoples awareness
about issues surrounding the Philippine-China dispute. The survey showed that 73% of
1,550 respondents were aware of the territorial dispute. And with that 82% said that they
are agreed to bring the issue to the to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
(Itlos), and 80% agreed that the government should ask help from other countries to keep
Chinas military actions in check.
De Leon (2014) the survey said 82 % of Filipinos strongly agree or "somewhat
agree" with Manilas filing the case for arbitration in January 21, 2013. Of the
respondents, 8 percent are "Undecided"; 5 percent "somewhat disagree"; and 3 percent
"strongly disagree". At least 61 % of respondents said they were generally aware of the

12

DFA's move to prove China's claim over the West Philippine Sea is excessive and
violated the provision of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); while 39
% "heard about it only now" or the time the survey was done. As for public awareness
about the dispute in general, the SWS counted a 73% awareness level on the dispute
nationwide; meanwhile, 68 % are aware that the region holds natural resources like oil
and gas under the seabed. Majority of the Filipinos or 93 % agreed that the Philippines
"should defend the territory and natural resources in the West Philippine Sea; 2 percent
negate it while 5 percent are undecided or "don't know".
Suarez (2014) A big majority of respondents 73% are aware of the territorial
dispute that the Philippines has with China over a group of islands called the Spratlys
(locally known as Kalayaan). When sorted by geographic location, the numbers are
consistent: 78% for Metro Manila, 74% for the rest of Luzon, 70% in the Visayas, and
72% in Mindanao. A big majority (68%) are also aware of the possible oil and gas
deposits in the disputed area, while 61% know that the Philippines brought the case for
resolution before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) (61%).
Awareness of the issues is highest in Metro Manila: 65% in the ITLOS case, and 72% in
the possible for natural resources. A majority are also aware of the measures China is
doing in the sea, particularly its strengthening of military forces (56%), the SWS said.
Again, Metro Manila residents have the highest awareness of the issue at 65%. Most
Filipinos agree with the government's filing of the case before the ITLOS: for the entire
survey pool, 82% agree with the move, while 8% disagree. The remaining 8% are
undecided. Majority are also in agreement that the Philippines should ask the help of

13

other countries to keep China's military actions in check: 80% of the respondents
nationwide agree to an extent. The survey also revealed that almost all the respondents
93% of respondents agree that the country should defend its territory and natural
resources in the West Philippine Sea "through lawful means."
Related Studies
Foreign Source
In the study of Rao (2011) about public awareness, he found out that the absence
of strong and active environmental conservation and citizen groups in India is also a
reason for poor environmental awareness and public participation in environmental
decision-making.
Charzynki, Podkorski, Stanczyk (2014), in their study about Raising territorial
awareness of the students from Gorzw Wielkopolski county (Poland) as part of
geographical and historical education they came up with the conclusion that the level of
territorial identity of students from selected schools in Gorzw county is high. However,
with the change in the stage of education level, this identity slightly decreases.
Presumably this is related to the fact that most of the attention to ones region is paid in
primary school, a little less in middle school and definitely it is forgotten in high
schools.
Local Source
Garcia (2012) in her study, The awareness on-going to territorial dispute between
China and Philippines shows awareness to the issue which can brought to the stand of

14

letting go the Scarborough shoal or not. The 50% of the aware respondents seems to be
concern about the occurring conflict as it makes them more engages to issues concerning
world affairs and relations of the Philippines. The other 50% of the aware population
shows minimal concern on the issue for different reasons like; it doesnt majorly affect
their everyday living as a student, or they believe our country is experience more serious
and fatal problems than the Scarborough conflict. On the total of 25 Lasallian
respondents, all of them are said to be aware of the issue, but only 19 of them said that
they are concern about it. The results are quite opposite to their findings about foreignbased individuals, where not all and only 6 of the 11 are aware of the issue, yet, everyone
agrees that the issue concerns every Filipinos, no matter where on earth they are living.
This concrete survey shows that the Philippines should not let go of the Island because it
concerns so much in the economy and property of the country and every Filipino.
Synthesis of the review
In foreign literature different countries in Asia also conducted survey in
order to determine the degree of awareness of the people. In 2013 the Japanese
Government conducted 9th Japan-China public poll, 80% of the Chinese people are more
likely more than Japanese people that got 60%. The following year 2014 another survey
conducted the 10th Japan-China public awareness survey the showed that the two
countries increase its awareness about the territorial dispute but the Chinese people
gained the higher percentage of 76.2% while the Japanese gained 64.3%. In local
literature, an article written by Valderama (2014) in Manila times it was stated that there

15

was a survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) commissioned by the
Department Foreign Affairs (DFA) in December 2013 in order to scale the awareness of
the Filipino respondents when it comes to the to the Philippine-China dispute. The results
show that out of 1,550 respondents 73% of the respondents were aware of the territorial
dispute. Another article written by Suarez (2014) in rappler.com, there was a national
survey conducted to the Filipinos about Spratly Island and awareness to the dispute. The
big majority of 73% of the respondents are aware that the Spratly Island should be part of
the Philippines and not to the China. And to the national survey the Metro Manila got the
highest awareness of 65%. In the study of Garcia (2012) 76% of the selected Lasallian
respondents were aware about the Scarborough Shoal dispute.
The aforementioned research literature and study on this chapter concerning about
the awareness of the Filipino about the issue of territorial dispute showed that more than
50% of the respondents are aware of the conflict between the Philippines and China but
also the dispute between Japan and China. The research differs from the above mentioned
study in terms of the respondents; the researches cover the awareness of the selected
education student of Jose Rizal University S.Y. 2014-2015

16

CHAPTER 3

Research Methods and Procedures

This chapter presents methods and procedures of the research.
Research method
The researchers was employed the descriptive method of research. Kothari (2004)
Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the
characteristics of a particular individual, or of a group, whereas diagnostic research
studies determine the frequency with which something occurs or its association with
something else.
This research methodology was useful to describe the degree of awareness of the
Education students of Jose Rizal University of school year 2014-2015.
Respondents of the Study
The education students of Jose Rizal University who was involved in the study
are currently enrolled for school year 2014-2015. The target respondents of the study
were 60 students. Purposive sampling procedure be utilized in the study.
Through Purposive sampling, the researcher selects the sampling units base on his
subjective judgment. Those who met the purpose of the study are those consider included
by the researchers in the study.

17

Data Collection Instruments

To be able to gather information for this study, the researchers was used the
personal data sheet and survey questionnaire.
Personal Data Sheet, was the research-made tool designed to gather profile of the
respondents,
Survey questionnaire, it is the primary data-gathering tool for this study. The
response mode for this portion of the questionnaire was given below.
Likert Scale used to interpret the awareness of the respondents.

Descriptive
Meaning

Scale

Weighted Mean

4.51-5.00

3.51-4.50

2.51-3.50

1.51-2.50

Slightly Aware

1.00-1.50

Not all Aware

Data Collection Procedures

Extremely
Aware
Moderate

Interpretation
Very High

Aware
Somewhat

High

Aware

Average
Low
Very Low

18

Before administering of the survey questionnaire, the researcher sought the

permission of Dr. Earvin Salazar, the Chairperson of Education Department and Dean
Henry Magat for the last approval. The questionnaire validated by our thesis adviser, Dr.
Darwin Bonifacio.
Subsequently, the researchers distributed the survey questionnaire to their
respondents. The respondents had five minutes to answer the questionnaire then the
researchers collected the accomplished survey questionnaire.
After collecting the survey questionnaire, the researchers encoded and tabulated
answers of the respondents, then followed statistical analysis and interpretation.
Data Analysis Plan
Formula 1.Frequency count and percentage, was used in presenting the profile of
the respondents.
Percentage
P=
N x 100
Where
P = percentage
F = frequency of category

19

N = number of cases.
Formula 2. To interpret the relationship of the awareness of the respondents among age,
sex, family income and major field of the study.
Chi-square Correlation analysis was used.
Chi-square: Correlation analysis

X2= chi-square statistics

Oi = observed frequency
Ei = expected frequency
I = the number of the cell (cell 1,cell 2. Etc)
Formula 3. To measure the degree of awareness of the education students weighted mean
was used.
Weighted Mean

Stands for the Weighted Arithmetic Mean

20

x=

Stands for values of the items

w=

Stands for weight of the item

CHAPTER 4

21

Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data

This chapter present the analysis and the interpretation of data gathered to answer
problems stated in chapter one. The research was based on data which relied from
answers from the questionnaire distributed.
1. What is the profile of the respondents
TABLE 1. Sex Distribution of Respondents
Mean value
Male
Female
Total

Frequency
29
31

Percent
48.3
51.7

60

100

21

Table 1 shows the sex distribution of the respondents which composed of 60

education students, 31 or 51.7% are female and 29 or 48.3% are males. Majority of the
respondents of the study are female.

TABLE 2. Age Distribution of Respondents

15 to 19

Frequency
32

Percent
53.3

22

20 - 24
25 - 29
30 and above
Total

15
6
7
60

25.0
10.0
11.7
100.0

Table 2 shows the age distribution of the respondents where 32 or 53.3% of the
total respondents were 15-19 years old considered young and 20-24 years old with 15 or
25%. Respondents with 25-29 years of age were only 6 or 10%. The total respondents
aged 30 years and above is composed of 7 or11.7% were considered adults.

TABLE 3. Family Income Distributions of Respondents

P21,000 to 25,000
26,000 - 30,000
31,000 to 35,000
36,000 and above
Total

Frequency
36
10
6
8
60

Percent
60.0
16.7
10.0
13.3
100.0

23

Table 3 present the income distribution of the respondents. Thirty six or sixty
percent of the total respondents had an average income of 21,000-25,000 pesos a month.
And 26,000 - 30,000 family income monthly shared only 16.7%. Of the total respondents
families whose income ranged from 31,000-35,000 pesos and those families whose
income 36,000 pesos and above shared only 10% and 13.3% respectively.

TABLE 4. Major Field of Study Distributions of Respondents

Frequency

Percent

Mathematics

14

23.3

English

19

31.7

27

45.0

24

Social studies
Total

60

100.0

Table 4 shows that all respondents have their own major field of study. Of all
major studies in the field, Social Studies respondents responded the survey with 45.0%
compared to English and Mathematics respondents with only 31.7% and 23.3%
respectively.

2. What is the degree of awareness of Education Students in territorial dispute?

TABLE 5. Awareness of selected Education students of Jose Rizal University
Mean

Interpretation

3.85

High

3.98

High

Threat
9.Are you aware that military presences including the
USA forces will trigger war?
10.Are you aware that continued building Chinese
Military structures enhanced defense capability that
threatens the security of the region?

25

Scarborough shoal dispute

13. Are you aware that ancient maps of the Philippines

and Southeast Asia had shown that Scarborough Shoal is
part of Luzon?
15.Are you aware that today China communist bullies use
military might to expel unarmed Filipinos from their
centurys long Scarborough Shoal fishing grounds, yet
they run away from the strength of the Philippine case at
the UN International Tribunal on The Law of the Sea?

3.91

High

High

3.23

Average

3.87

High

7.Are you aware that diplomacy should be used and not to

show of force from both parties?

4.05

High

11.Are you aware that the Chinese Government is

blatantly violated the United Nations Conventions on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?

3.77

High

4.02

High

4.55

Very High

Spratly island dispute

14.Are you aware that the ancient maps of China since
Song Dynasty do not include the South China Sea to
which Spratly is located?
UNCLOS
6.Are you aware that the International Court should settle
the territorial dispute?

5.Are you aware that the Philippines and China should

stand their ground in claiming Scarborough and Spratly
Island as part of their territory?
Territory
3. Are you aware that the Spratly Islands and the
Scarborough shoal are part of Integral territory of the
Philippines?

26

4.Are you aware that the Spratly Islands and the

Scarborough shoal are part of Integral territory of China
2.98

Average

3.45

Average

4.15

High

1.Are you aware about territorial dispute between the

Philippines and China?

4.28

High

8.Are you aware that asking support from other

neighboring Asian countries will help resolve the issue?

3.78

High

General weighted mean

3.86

High

Cause
12.Are you aware that the recently Chinese draws what
they called 9- dashed line which claims as its
southernmost boarder including the exclusive economic
zones (EEZ) of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei,
Indonesia and Malaysia?
2.Are you aware about the cause of their territorial
dispute?

The degree of the awareness of Education Students in territorial disputes obtained

a general weighted mean of 3.86with a verbal interpretation high. The highest outcome
of awareness was item number 3 with an average mean of 4.55. This showed that they
were extremely aware that the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough shoal are part of
Integral territory of the Philippines. The lowest ranking result of the awareness with an
average mean of 2.98 was the item number 4 that the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough
shoal are part of Integral territory of China.

27

3. Is there a significant relationship between the degree of awareness of the respondents

when grouped according to the following variables age, sex, family income, major field
of study?
TABLE 6.Relationship between sex and awareness

Asymp. Sig. (2Value

Df

sided)
Chi-Square
32.411a
31
.397
a. 64 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
Expected count is .47.

The Chi-Square Test was performed on the data at .05 level of significance. The
results show that the Chi Square coefficient of 32.411 with a p value of .397. Since
the p value was greater than the level of significance; the null hypothesis was not
rejected. Hence, there was no significant relationship between sex and awareness.

28

TABLE 7.Relationship between Age and Awareness

Asymp. Sig. (2Value

df
sided)

Chi-Square

86.860a

93

.660

a. 128 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected
count is .10.
The Chi-Square Test was performed on the data at .05 level of significance. The
results show that the Chi Square coefficient of 86.86 with a pvalue of .660. Since the
p value was greater than the level of significance; the null hypothesis was not rejected.
Hence, there was no significant relationship between age and awareness.

29

TABLE 8.Relationship between Family Income and Awareness

Asymp. Sig. (2Value

df

sided)
Chi-Square
109.444a
93
.117
a. 128 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .
10.
The Chi-Square Test was performed on the data at .05 level of significance. The
results show that the Chi Square coefficient of 109.444 with a p value of .117. Since
the p value was greater than the level of significance; the null hypothesis was not
rejected.

Hence, there was no significant relationship between family income and

awareness.

TABLE 9.Relationship between Major Field of Study and Awareness

30

Value
Chi-Square

71.905

df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

62

sided)
.183

a. 96 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The

minimum expected count is .23.
The Chi-Square Test was performed on the data at .05 level of significance. The
results show that the Chi Square coefficient of 71.905 with a p value of .183. Since
the pvalue was greater than the level of significance, the null hypothesis was not
rejected. Hence, there was no significant relationship between major field of study and
awareness.
In an open-ended question As a student and a citizen of this Republic what can
you suggest and contribute to ease or resolve this issue? Majority of the respondents
suggested in order settling the territorial dispute was to have International arbitration to
resolve the issue peacefully while others wanted to bring the issue to the United Nations
specifically to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) which has the
jurisdiction over any dispute.

31

CHAPTER 5
Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations

Summary of Findings
The overriding of this study was to determine the degree of awareness of selected
education students of the Jose Rizal University about the territorial dispute between the
Philippines and China. The respondents were Education students of Jose Rizal University
S.Y 2014-2015 with a total of 60 respondents. The investigation conducted within the
Jose Rizal University. Descriptive method of research was used to illustrate the degree of
awareness of education students. The Statistical tools applied to treat the gathered data
were personal data sheet and survey questionnaire.
Based on the data were presented;
1. Profile of the respondents
The profile of respondent was categorized into: the age, sex, income and the
major field of study. In the age distribution of the respondents there were 28 males and 32
females with an average percent of 48.3% and 51.7% respectively. Meanwhile in the sex
distribution we found out that there were 28 males and 32 females with an average
percent of 46.7% and 53.3% respectively. And to the age distribution, there were 32
respondents, where 15to 19 years old and the least were 30 and above consisted of 7
respondents. And when it comes to the family income distribution of the respondents

32

there were 36 respondents with a family income of 21, 0000 25, 0000 pesos with an
average of 60% and the lowest among them was 36,000 and above with the total of
13.3%. Lastly, in the major field of study distribution most of the Respondents with
Social Studies major had the highest frequency with the total of 27 students but not too
far with the English major with 19 students.
2. Degree of awareness of education students
The questionnaire given to respondents composed of 15 items. And the general
weighted mean was 3.8611,verbally interpreted was high awareness, item number 3 has
the highest mean with 4.5500 where the respondents had the very high awareness that the
Spratly Islands and the Scarborough shoal are part of Integral territory of the Philippines.
The least average was item number 4, that the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough shoal
are part of Integral territory of China.
In the open ended question, the majority of the respondents proposed that the best
solution in resolving the dispute was to bring the issue in the United Nations.
3.

The Relationship of awareness of the respondents among the sex, age,

family income and major field of study.

In finding out the result of the relationship of the awareness of the respondents
among the sex, age, family income and major field of study we used the Chi-square
correlation analysis. The results showed that the Chi Square coefficient of 32.411 with a
p value of .397 between sex and awareness. The relationship of age and awareness

33

showed that the Chi Square coefficient of 86.86 with a pvalue of .660. And the result
to the relationship of family income and awareness showed that the Chi-square
coefficient of 109.444 with a p value of .117 between family income and awareness.
And to the relationship of awareness and major field of study The results showed that the
Chi Square coefficient of 71.905 with a p value of .183.
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the researchers made the following conclusions.
1. Profile of the respondents
Majority or 51.7% of the respondents were female while 48.3% were males. The age
of the respondents who participated in the survey mostly ranged from 15 to 19 years old
with an average percentage of 53.3%. They were considered young. The rest of the
respondents shared the remaining percentage. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the
respondents had 20-24 years and 11.7% belonged to 30 years old and above. When it
comes to the family income, the highest family income distribution of respondents was
60% with an average of 21,000- 25,000 pesos. While the others 26,000 - 30,000 family
income monthly shared only 16.7%. And to those families whose income ranged from
31000-35000 pesos and those families whose income were 36000 pesos and above shared
only 10% and 13.3% respectively. The major field distribution of the respondents most of
the Education students were major in Social Studies with 45%. The next one was English
with 31.7% which was not too far from social studies major. And the least major was
Mathematics with 23.3% only.

34

2. Degree of awareness of education students

Out of 15 questions item number 4 gained the lowest weighted mean of 2.9833.
Most of the respondents responses were most unaware that Spratly Islands and the
Scarborough shoal are part of Integral territory of China.
3. Relationship of awareness among the sex, age, family income and major field
of study.
The following are the result of the findings of determining the relationship of
awareness among the sex, age, family income and major field of study. The result showed
that the Chi Square coefficient of 32.411 with a p value of .397 between sex and
awareness. The p value is greater than the level of significance. Since the level of
significance is .05. Then, there is no significant relationship between sex and awareness.
The result of the relationship between family income and awareness showed that the Chi
Square coefficient of 109.444 with a p value of .117. Since the p value was greater
than the level of significance. Consequently, there was no significant relationship
between family income and awareness. Meanwhile in the relationship of major field of
study and awareness result also showed that the Chi Square coefficient of 71.905 with
a p value of .183, since the pvalue was greater than the level of significance, the null
hypothesis was not rejected. Hence, there was no significant relationship between major
field of study and awareness. The null hypothesis was not rejected.

35

Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusion, we made the following recommendations were
offered.
1. Increase the number of respondents to have better accuracy of the result.
2. The students should be aware about Chinese claims that the Spratly and
Scarborough shoal are part of their territory not only focusing in the Philippines.
3. To raise the awareness about territorial dispute, the issue should be included
in the history books and it must be taught from the basic education up to college.
4. As citizens you should be responsible to read newspapers, watching news and
listening to radio as part of growing the awareness.

36

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Books

Chia S.Y. (1974).Southeast Asian Affairs 2000.Singapore. Institute of Southeast

Asian Studies.
Kothari, C.R.(2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. India. New
Age International Limited Publishers.

B. Journals and Periodicals

Endsley, M.R. (1995). Human Factors Toward a Theory of Situational Awareness in
Dynamics Systems.32-64
Dawnay, K.(2012). The Scarborough Shoal Standoff Current Intelligence
Volume 4 issue 2.
Keyuan, Z. (1999). Scarborough Reef: A New Flashpoint in Sino-Philippine Relations?
IBRU Boundary and Security Bulletin Summer, 71-81.
Shen.J, (2002). China's Sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands: A Historical
Perspective, Chinese JIL, 95-15

37

C. Thesis
Chung, C.P.C (2013). Since Time Immemorial: Chinas Historical Claim in the South China
Sea. University of Calgary

Hurwitt, M.C (1980) U.S. Strategy in Southeast Asia:The Spratly Islands Dispute.
University of North Carolina.
D. Electronic Sources
De Leon, P. (2014, February 10). PINOY PULSE | We must defend West PH Sea, don't
trust

China.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/80481/pinoy-pulse--we-must-

defend-west-phl-sea-un-arbitration-right-move-dont-trust-china
Chapter 3.Attitudes toward China. (2013, July 17). Retrieved September 23, 204, from
http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/07/18/chapter-3-attitudes-toward-china/
Suarez, K. (2014, February 10). SWS: Most Filipinos back gov't on Spratlys.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/50168-survey-filipinos- awareness-china-dispute.
The 9th Japan-China Public Opinion Poll.(n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2015, from
http://www.genron-npo.net/en/issues/archives/4962.html

38

The 10th Japan-China Public Opinion PollAnalysis Report on the Comparative Data. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 8, 2015Fromhttp://www.genronnpo.net/en/pp/archives/5153.html
Valderama, T. (2015, February 10). Dignity vs arrogance | The Manila Times Online. Retrieved
February 11, 2015, from http://www.manilatimes.net/dignity-vs-arrogance/161552/

39

20January 2015
Dr. Henry G. Magat
Dean, College of Arts, Criminology & Education
Jose Rizal University
Thru: Dr. Ervin A. Salazar
Chairperson, Education Department
Jose Rizal University
Dear Sir/Madam:
Greetings!
As part of the Liberal Arts program curriculum activity of our batch, we are working on
our thesis entitled The Degree of Awareness of the Bachelor of Science in Education
Students in the Jose Rizal University on the Territorial Dispute between Philippines and
China SY 2014 2015.
In this regard, we would like to ask for a permission to conduct a survey to our education
students.
We are looking forward to your positive response.
Thank you!
Respectfully yours,
Christine Grace T. Catubig
Student

Ed Paulo G. Ramos
Student

Noted by:

Endorse by:

Dr. Efren Consemino

Thesis Professor

Dr. Ervin A. Salazar

Chairperson

Approved by:

Dr. Henry G. Magat

Dean, College of Arts, Criminology &

40

Education

APPENDICES
Appendix B

Jose Rizal University

80 Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong City
The Degree of Awareness of Selected Education Students of
the Jose Rizal University
About Territorial Dispute between Philippines and China
SY 2014-2015:
Directions: Please put an X mark in the box that corresponds to
your profile.
Name (optional) __________________________________
Sex:

Age:
above

Male

15-19

Family Income:

Female

20-24

25 29

21,000 25,000 Pesos

26,000 - 30,000 Pesos
31,000 -35,000 Pesos
36,000 and above

Major Field of Study:

Mathematics

30 and

41

English
Social Studies
The Degree of Awareness of Education Students of the Jose
Rizal University about Territorial Dispute between the
Philippines and China
SY 2014-2015
Directions: Please rate your level of awareness with each of the
following questions by encircling the number.
Extremely
aware

Moderately
aware

Somewhat
aware

Slightly
aware

Not
all aware

1. Are you aware about

territorial dispute between
the Philippines and China?

2. Are you aware about the

cause of their territorial
dispute?

3. Are you are aware that

the Spratly Islands and the
Scarborough shoal are part
of Integral territory of the
Philippines?
4. Are you are aware that
the Spratly Islands and the
Scarborough shoal are part
of Integral territory of the
China?

42

5. Are you aware that the

Philippines and China
stand their ground in
claiming the Scarborough
and the Spratly Island as
part of their territory?
6. Are you aware that the
International Court should
settle the territorial
dispute?
7. Are you aware that
diplomacy should be used
and not to show of force
from both parties?
8. Are you aware that
asking support from other
neighboring Asian
countries will help resolve
the issue?
9. Are you aware that
military presences
including the USA forces
will trigger war?
10. Are you aware that
continued building Chinese
Military structures
enhanced defense
capability that threatens the
security of the region?
11. Are you aware that the
Chinese Government is
blatantly violated the
United Nations
Conventions on the Law of

43

the Sea (UNCLOS)?

12. Are you aware that the

recently Chinese draws
what they called 9-dashed
line which claims as its
southernmost boarder
including the exclusive
economic zones (EEZ) of
the Philippines, Vietnam,
Brunei, Indonesia and
Malaysia?
13. Are you aware that
ancient maps of the
Philippines and Southeast
Asia had shown that
Scarborough Shoal which
is part of Luzon?
14. Are you aware that the
ancient maps of China
since Song Dynasty do not
include the South China
Sea to which Spratly which
located?

15. Are you aware that

today China communist
bullies use military might
to expel unarmed Filipinos
from their centurys long
Scarborough Shoal fishing
grounds, yet they run away
from the strength of the

44

Philippine case at the UN

International Tribunal on
The Law of the Sea?

As a student and a citizen of this Republic what can you suggest and contribute to ease or
resolve this issue?

45

CURRICULUM VITAE

ED PAULO G. RAMOS
PERSONAL DATA
Sex

: Male

Civil Status

: Single

Date of Birth

: October 12, 1994

Place of Birth

: Bacoor, Cavite

Parents

: Edgardo E. Ramos
Helen M. Golez

Present Address

: 7633 Bethany St. Valley golf Cainta, Rizal

46

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Elementary

: De Castro elementary School

Pasig, City

Secondary

: Sta. Lucia High School

Pasig, City

College

: Jose Rizal University

Mandaluyong City

SEMINARS ATTENDED
Success seminar by Chinkee Tan
San Juan, Greenhills, 2012
Unselfie leaders, unselfie heroes
Jose Rizal University, September 12, 2014

47

CHRISTINE GRACE T. CATUBIG

PERSONAL DATA
Sex

: Female

Civil Status

: Single

Date of Birth

: November 13, 1994

Place of Birth

: Tondo, Manila

Parents

: Jeremias O. Catubig
Judith T. Catubig

Present Address

: 46A Del Mundo St. Talipapa Quezon, City

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Elementary

: Sto. Rosario Elementary School

Secondary

: Baesa High School

College

: Jose Rizal University

48

SEMINARS ATTENDED
Unselfie Leaders, Unselfie Heroes
Jose Rizal University, September 12, 2014
Social Media
University of Manila, August 2011
Discovering Your Learning Style
Jose Rizal University, September 2012
Strategy In Selecting Thinking About And Learning New Ideas
Jose Rizal University, October 2012
The Pillars of Academic Success
Jose Rizal University, October 2012