Awareness, Perceptions and Attitudes toward ASEAN among Graduate

Students in Taguig City University

Marlon B. Raquel
Taguig City University, Metro Manila, Philippines

Since its founding in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has
become one of the most important regional organizations in the world. With the
signing of The ASEAN Charter in November 2007, the regional group turned into a
legal entity and ASEAN Economic Community was formally commenced on
December 2015.
Using a survey questionnaire, 200 graduate students in a government Philippine
university were asked on seven themes, namely, general awareness, perceptions
and attitudes, support, commitment, perceived benefits, trust in the benefits to the
region, and aspirations towards ASEAN Economic Community.
In general, almost all graduate students were familiar with ASEAN but a
considerable percentage of them failed to identify correctly the founding date and the
ASEAN flag while a quarter incorrectly identify flags of member-states. Singapore is
the top destination for both travel and work. More than 90% of the respondents have
positive perceptions and attitudes towards ASEAN. About 95.7% of the graduate
students support the AEC but reported a lower percentage in terms of commitment
(89.1%). About 97.4% of them believed that the country benefits from AEC with
92.5% expressed trust in these benefits to the region. Respondents also reported
different levels of aspirations for the establishment of the regional block in Asia.

Keywords: ASEAN, ASEAN Community, ASEAN Integration, Philippines