8 in 10 Pinoys satisfied with drug war – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Almost eight in 10 Filipinos were satisfied with the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, according to the third quarter survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The poll, conducted from Sept. 27-30, showed 79 percent of adult Filipinos satisfied and 15 percent dissatisfied with the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs for a net satisfaction rating of +64, classified as very good.

Of the 79 percent satisfied, 52 percent were very satisfied and 27 percent were somewhat satisfied. The 15 percent dissatisfied, on the other hand, consisted of eight percent somewhat dissatisfied and seven percent very dissatisfied.

Six percent of the respondents were undecided.

The latest net satisfaction rating on Duterte’s drug war was six points below the excellent +70 in March and June 2019, and similar to the very good levels of March 2017 to September 2018, which ranged from +63 to +66.

SWS said the net satisfaction with the anti-illegal drugs campaign has always been either very good (+50 to +69) or excellent (+70 and above) in the past 12 survey rounds. The campaign recorded its highest satisfaction rating in December 2016 at excellent +77.

Those satisfied with the government’s drug campaign cited a recurring reason that “drug suspects have lessened” at 42 percent, similar to the 40 percent in June 2019 and 39 percent in June 2018. The second most common reasons were “drug suspects have been arrested” at 18 percent, and “lessened crime” at 11 percent.

Rounding the top five reasons are “it diminished the drug trade” (eight percent), and “protected the youth from drugs” (six percent). The rest of the responses obtained single-digit scores, the pollster said.

Meanwhile, among those who say they are dissatisfied with the anti-illegal drugs campaign, “drug trade/drug suspects are still prevalent” remained the most common reason, at 51 percent. This was nine points higher than the 42 percent in June 2019.

This was followed by “too many killings” at 28 percent, “too many wrongful suspects/arrests/mistaken identities” at 13 percent, and “abuse of power and bias in the operations” at six percent. No other responses were given, according to SWS.

The September survey also found 29 percent of adult Filipinos saying the police are “not telling the truth” about their claims that the killed drug suspects resisted arrest or “nanlaban,” while 26 percent say the police are “telling the truth,” for a net opinion of -3, similar to the net +1 in June 2019.

The poll used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide.