Poll rating Philippines among safest surprises Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is giving the police the credit after a Washington-based analytics and advisory firm gave the Philippines a grade of 84 percent in terms of law and order.

Duterte said he was surprised upon reading results of the 2020 Global Law and Order Report of Gallup.

“I was really surprised. We are in the top 50 and we are lumped with countries that are really ideally peaceful,” he said during his meeting with members of the Cabinet last Thursday.

The President gave credit to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies for doing a great job in terms of maintaining peace and order in the country.

“So if it’s a recent Gallup survey, it only shows that, well, we have to credit the police and the military and the other uniformed services of government who have toiled to make this country at least very peaceful,” Duterte said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año presented to the President the good news, noting how the US-based firm regarded the country in terms of the peace and order situation for the past year.

Año noted that the country placed in the top 50 out of 144 countries, which placed it in the same category as Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Serbia.

Only a few countries in Southeast Asia made it to the Gallup survey, which gave Singapore a grade of 97 percent.

“This proves that our fight against criminality and drugs is successful,” Año said.

He cited the questions raised during the poll: “In the city where you live, do you have confidence in the police force? Do you feel safe walking alone at night? Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member? Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?”

“Out of 174,000 respondents from other countries, we had a grade of 84 percent. So it shows that people appreciate and recognize the effort of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement,” said Año.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency reported that 248 drug suspects have been killed in anti-drug operations during the community quarantine declared amid the coronavirus pandemic. – Emmanuel Tupas, Edith Regalado