Support for drug war down – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Satisfaction with the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign fell sharply in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon in the past three months, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

In Metro Manila, net satisfaction with the government’s drug war dropped to +61 in September from +77 points in June. It also dropped in the rest of Luzon from +61 to +54 during the same period. 

Nationwide, the net satisfaction rating dropped two points but remained in “very good” territory at +63 (77 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied) in September from +65 (78 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in June.

The non-commissioned survey was conducted from Sept. 23 to 27, using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults nationwide. 

Net satisfaction was highest in Mindanao, where it increased by 11 points from +66 (79 percent satisfied, 12 percent dissatisfied) in June to +77 (85 percent satisfied, seven percent dissatisfied) in September. 

It also rose in the Visayas, from +64 (78 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied) in June to +68 (80 percent satisfied, 12 percent dissatisfied) in September.

The same survey found 71 percent of Filipinos claimed there are less drug addicts in their area compared to six months ago, although nine percent said there are “more” and 12 percent said the number stayed the same.

The largest proportion of those who see fewer drug addicts than six months ago was in Mindanao, where 85 percent said there are “less” drug addicts now. It is followed by balance Luzon (68 percent less), Metro Manila (66 percent less) and the Visayas (65 percent less). 

Meanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday the Duterte administration’s war on drugs should inspire confidence and not sow fear among Filipinos.

For him, the series of surveys showing public support for the war on drugs “provides the Duterte administration with a crystal-clear mandate to continue the campaign against illegal drugs with renewed vigor.” 

“The challenge we now face is to continue the war on drugs in a way which will inspire public confidence in the integrity of law enforcement authorities and avoid unnecessary bloodshed,” Gatchalian said.

He said this can be accomplished by instituting reforms to guarantee transparency and accountability in the conduct of anti-illegal drug operations, and by ensuring that the constitutional rights of drug suspects and innocent bystanders will be respected at all times.

However, committee on public order and dangerous drugs chairman Sen. Panfilo Lacson found it “revealing, if not disturbing” that Filipinos seem to have accepted the drug-related extrajudicial killings as part of the war on drugs.

“Undeniably, it shows frustration among a big majority of our people who seem resigned to the reality that the country’s drug problem could be solved even by resorting to extrajudicial means, as perceived and projected, rightly or wrongly by human rights groups and other critics of the administration’s methods in addressing the same,” Lacson said. 

“One thing is certain though – the drug problem has persisted all these years and it’s only now that Filipinos finally see a president who has shown political will and dogged determination to fight and lick the problem hands on,” he said. – With Paolo Romero