MANILA, Philippines - Before President Duterte assumed power and launched a bloody war on drugs, 62 percent of Filipino families had expressed fear of drug addicts in their areas, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The survey was conducted from June 24 to 27, just days before Duterte was sworn into office at noon on June 30.
The poll, first published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday, was released amid an ongoing Senate investigation on the alleged summary killings of suspected drug offenders all over the country.
The survey found 62 percent of families agreeing with the statement, “In this neighborhood there are already very many people addicted to banned drugs (Sa lugar na ito, napakarami na ang mga taong na-aadik sa mga ipinagbabawal na gamot).”
According to SWS, this was higher by seven points from the previous record-high of 55 percent in April.
By area, fear of drug addicts rose to a record-high 82 percent in Metro Manila from 70 percent in April.
It also increased by 12 points in balance Luzon, from 52 percent in April to a record-high 64 percent in June.
More families also expressed fear of drug addicts in the Visayas in June, from 49 percent in April to a record-high 60 percent in June.
On the other hand, fear of drug addicts fell by 11 points in Mindanao, Duterte’s home region, from the record-high 57 percent in April to 46 percent in June.
The number of suspected drug dealers and users killed in Duterte’s war on drugs has reached 3,000 since July 1, according to reports.
Rody happy that public feels safer
President Duterte said he is happy that the public now feels secure, noting that crime has significantly been reduced since he assumed office.
He also said he has so far kept his promise to eradicate corruption and improve services in key government agencies.
“What I promised is that I will stop corruption. I think that I am succeeding to a certain extent. You cannot erase it (corruption), which has been there for generations,” Duterte said in a speech at the 37th MassKara Festival in Bacolod last Sunday.
“But if you want to really ask me if the government now is somehow clean, the national government is actually clean,” he added.
Duterte has pledged to eradicate crime in six months. But due to the magnitude of the drug problem in the country, Duterte has admitted that he might need more than six months to solve it because all sectors of society were affected. – With Christina Mendez