Majority of Filipinos worried about being victims of EJK: SWS survey
Majority of Filipinos are worried of becoming victims of 'extrajudicial killings' or EJK, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found.
In the fourth quarter 2018 survey conducted on December 16 to 19 which was issued Friday, 78 percent of adult Filipinos are worried that they, or anyone they know, will be a victim of EJK.
The result was five percentage points higher than June 2017 poll with 73 percent.
When asked "How worried are you that you or anyone you know will be a victim of 'extrajudicial killing' or EJK?," 42 percent responded they are very worried while 36 percent said they are somewhat worried.
Some said they are not worried - nine percent said they are not too worried while 13 percent showed no worries.
Those that were worried of becoming EJK victims were mostly from Visayas at 83 percent. In Metro Manila, 79 percent were worried while in Mindanao 78 percent made the same response.
The survey also found the respondents' opinions were split on who the usual victims of EJK are.
Fifty percent believe only the poor are usual victims of the killings, three percentage points said the rich, while 48 percent said the issue "does not choose a class," SWS said.
Most people who claimed the poor are the usual targets of EJK are from Metro Manila while those who said everyone can be a victim of EJK irregardless of their social class are mostly from Mindanao.
The SWS survey found there was a three percentage point decrease of number of respondents who personally know a victim of EJK.
Only 12 percent said they personally know a victim "with whom they share varying degrees of closeness," while 87 percent said otherwise.
"Of the 12 percent who personally know a victim of EJK in December 2018, six percent say the victim was their acquaintance, three percent relative, three percent neighbor, two percent best friend, and 0.5 percent officemate or colleague at work," the survey read emphasizing the respondents were allowed to give multiple answers.
SWS asked respondents: "In your opinion, is the administration serious or not serious about solving the problem of 'extrajudicial killings' or EJK in the country?"
In response, 71 percent said the administration was serious in addressing the issue while 11 percent said it was not serious.
About 17 percent were undecided whether the administration is making necessary steps to solve the problem.
The proportion who said the administration is serious about doing something to solve EJK was mostly from Mindanao at 75 percent.
In Metro Manila, on the other hand, 14 percent of respondents claimed the administration is not serious in solving the killings.
The poll was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults aged 18 years old and above.
It has a sampling error margins ±2.6 percent for national percentages and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS
