Most Filipinos still fear crimes, addicts — SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos are still wary of neighborhood crimes and the presence of drug addicts in their communities despite the government’s intensive campaign against illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

The second quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, conducted from June 27 to 30 with the results released yesterday, showed that neighborhood fears among Filipinos remain hardly unchanged in recent months.

Fifty-five percent of the 1,200 respondents said they fear falling victim to burglars, higher by one point from the 54 percent recorded in March.

Meanwhile, fear of unsafe streets was unchanged at 46 percent, while fear of the presence of drug addicts increased from 40 percent to 41 percent.

Across areas, fear of burglary and unsafe streets are highest in Metro Manila, followed by rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Fear of drug addicts in the neighborhood is also highest in Metro Manila, followed by the rest of Luzon, Mindanao and Visayas.

While still felt by the majority of Filipinos, fear of burglary, unsafe streets and presence of drug addicts have gone down since President Duterte took over.

In the SWS survey conducted in September 2016 — the first under the Duterte administration — fear of burglary, unsafe streets and presence of drug addicts were at 62 percent, 53 percent and 56 percent respectively.

1.2 million victims

Meanwhile, the same survey showed that an estimated 1.2 million Filipinos were victimized by common crimes in the first half of 2018.

SWS said 5.3 percent of Filipinos know family members who experienced common crimes such as pickpocket or robbery of personal property, break-ins, carnapping and physical violence in the past six months.

The figure is higher than the 3.7 percent recorded by the survey firm in the same period last year, but is lower than the 6.6 percent in the first quarter survey covering the period between October 2017 to March 2018.

Comparing it with the survey data from the same period last year, incidents of street robberies are higher across the country except in the Visayas. Break-ins have increased nationwide except in Metro Manila, while physical violence dropped in all areas.              

The number of incidents is lower if the January to June 2018 data is compared with survey results covering periods between October 2017 and March 2018.

SWS, which has been asking respondents whether any household members became a victim of a common crime since 1989, said its victimization data is often higher than the number of crimes actually reported to the police.

The survey had an error margin of +/- two percent for nationwide scores.