Filipinos back anti-drug drive but 71% want suspects alive: SWS
Filipinos overwhelmingly supported President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against illegal drugs, but most stressed it is important to arrest drug suspects, a pollster said Friday.
A Social Weather Stations survey from September 24-27 among 1,200 respondents revealed that 84 percent were satisfied with the government's campaign against illegal drugs, eight percent were dissatisfied, eight percent undecided or a net satisfaction rating of +76 or "excellent."
The survey was released on the 100 th day of the Duterte administration, which has encountered opposition from human rights groups over the tough anti-illegal drug drive
But the poll said Filipinos across income classes nationwide supported the campaign, where at least 3,500 suspects have been killed.
Most residents in Mindanao have the campaign a net satisfaction rating of +87, followed by those in the National Capital Region at +78, then Visayas at +76, and Balance of Luzon at +71.
Those belonging from classes ABC, D, and E obtained almost similar net satisfaction ratings at +79, +76, and +79.
But the survey showed 71 percent of respondents it is "very important" that illegal drug trade suspects alive; 23 percent "somewhat important"; and the rest either "not at all important or somewhat not important."
Since July 1, over 3,500 drugs suspects have been killed, with more than half outside police operations.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said their campaign against illegal drugs have accounted more than 40 percent of the 1.8 million drug personalities targeted by the administration in just three months.
"We are winning," Dela Rosa told reporters in an interview. "The initial response of the ordinary people is to thank us."
In 28,510 police operations since July 1, 1,523 drug suspects and 23,861 others were arrested based on the latest police data.
People who have surrendered is at 1,769,458, divided between 43,212 suspected pushers and 683,045 users. This means 764,631 out of the 1.8 million, or about 42.47 percent mentioned by the Dangerous Drugs Board with alleged links to prohibited narcotics.
The figure does not include 2,421 victims of killings perpetrated by vigilantes.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar reiterated the Duterte administration does not condone summary execution or extrajudicial killing of drug suspects.
In a TV interview at ANC, former National Security Adviser Jose Almonte said: “You can't kill everyone. You can't kill forever. I'm thinking in the long term.”
Andanar said the police is investigating all cases of extrajudicial killings and will prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law.
"The relentless campaign against illegal drugs will be carried out to its logical conclusion: to emancipate the nation from the scourge of illegal drugs by running after all those involved in the illegal drugs trade with the full force of the law," he said.
Andanar said the government is putting up more rehabilitation centers to accommodate those who have surrendered to authorities and are willing to undergo treatment for their addiction.
More than 700,000 drug users and pushers have surrendered to authorities apparently for fear they might be killed in the government's campaign against illegal drugs. Celerina Monte, Emmanuel Tupas/DMS
