SWS: Filipinos split over truth of police ‘nanlaban’ claim

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are divided over the claim of the police that some suspects were kiled in the Duterte administration’s drug war because they fought back, or “nanlaban.”

This is based on the results of a poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from Dec. 16 to 19, 2018.

The poll found that 28 percent of Filipinos believed that the police were not telling the truth on claims that drug suspects were killed for resisting arrest, while 28 percent believed that the police were telling the truth.

Broken down, 16 percent said police were definitely not telling the truth, while 12 percent said police were probably not telling the truth.

Of the 28 percent who said police were telling the truth, 10 percent said they were definitely telling the truth, while 17 percent said they were probably telling the truth.

Meanwhile, the SWS said 44 percent of Filipinos are undecided on the issue.

SWS asked the respondents: “In the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, the police are —

• definitely telling the truth
• probably telling the truth
• undecided if telling the truth or not
• probably not telling the truth
• definitely not telling the truth

— that the suspects they killed really fought back?”

The poll was conducted through interviews of 1,440 adults aged 18 years old and above nationwide — 360 respondents each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey had a sampling error margin of ±2.6% for national percentages and a sampling error margin of ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. /atm