Manila, July 8 -- There is now better "convergence" among Filipinos to uphold the country's interests in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) because of the July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said.

This, despite China's attempts to belittle the ruling, which invalidated China sweeping claims over the South China Sea, by calling it a mere scrap of paper.

"You can see the convergence of 86 percent of our population and it is getting more granular," the DND chief said in an interview late Tuesday.

Teodoro was referring to a Stratbase Institute-commissioned Pulse Asia survey, results of which show that nine out of 10 Filipinos want the Philippines to work with like-minded nations, sp...