Palace welcomes ‘very good’ rating on Duterte’s drug war

Malacañang on Sunday welcomed the ‘very good’ satisfaction rating on the administration’s war against drugs.

“We welcome the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing 78% satisfaction with the Administration’s campaign against illegal drugs,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in statement.

Roque was reacting to the most recent SWS poll results showing that 78 percent were satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign while only 13 percent were dissatisfied, for a net satisfaction rating of +65, which SWS classified as “very good.”

READ: 78% of Filipinos okay Duterte antidrug drive — SWS 

The palace official said the positive reaction of Filipinos to the government’s anti-drug war is “a testament that the drug war continues to enjoy the broad support of our people.”

He added that this was achieved despite the “efforts of the detractors and critics of the Administration to politicize the issue or discredit the campaign’s success.”

“Filipinos aspire for a crime-free society which can be realized by stopping the spread of criminality and fighting the scourge of drugs,” Roque said.

Meanwhile, another recent survey released by the SWS revealed that three out of five Filipinos believe that police arresting idlers or “tambays” is a violation of human rights.

READ: Arrest of ‘tambays’ against human rights, 3 of 5 Pinoys say – SWS

Roque pointed out that there was no directive from the president to arrest idlers.

“On the arrest of tambays as a violation of human rights, the matter has already been clarified when the President had said that he did not order the arrest of tambays, for loitering, per se, is not a crime,” he said.

Duterte, in the past, has denied ordering the arrest of idlers. He clarified that his order was for idlers to “go home.”

“Authorities then issued guidelines that they would not bring to the police station those without violations,” he added, referring to the memorandum released by the Philippine National Police Public Information Office.

The guidelines were for the “intensified enforcement of laws and local ordinances to prevent occurrence of street crimes.” /ee

READ: PNP issues guidelines in drive vs ordinance, law violators

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