After survey on EJK, PNP calls on SWS to be ‘responsible’

MANILA, Philippines —Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Oscar Albayalde on Monday called on the Social Weather Stations (SWS) to be responsible in conducting surveys after poll results showed that most Filipinos fear being victimized by extrajudicial killings (EJK).

According to the survey released by the SWS on Friday (March 1), 78 percent of Filipinos fear that they or someone they know might fall victim to EJKs.

For Albayalde, the questions used in the survey have loopholes.

READ: SWS: Most Filipinos fear being victimized by EJK

“The question itself parang medyo mali naman kaagad. ‘Gaano ko kayo nangangamba?’ Everybody would be scared of course. Sabi ko nga sino ang hindi takot mamatay, sino ba ang hindi takot na maging biktima ng krimen?” he said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.

(The question itself is somehow wrong in the first place. “How worried are you?” Everybody would be scared of course. Like I said, who is not afraid to be killed, who is not afraid to be victimized by crime?)

Albayalde said the PNP does not know the “motivation” behind the survey, as the SWS is a private company that the government has no control of.

“Hindi natin alam kung iyan ay nagagamit o hindi [for other agenda]. We really do not know. What we are asking here is that we humbly ask for them to be responsible. Yung importante dito is our social responsibility. Ano ba gusto natin ipalabas sa ating mga kababayan dito?” he said.

(We do not know if they are being used for other agenda. We really do not know. What we are asking is for them to be responsible. What’s important here is our social responsibility. What do we want to imply to the public by this survey?)

The PNP chief also said he hopes pollsters will not be used for political agenda, as the campaign season for the midterm polls heats up.

“Sana nga hindi tayo magpagamit, dahil ito we should be apolitical also kapag mga ganito. We give the public the truth. Ito yung ating reason for existence, yung mga corporations na ito. Huwag natin ipagamit itong opisina natin in any political exercise. Sana nga hindi, ayaw namin isipin ‘yun,” he said.

(I hope we are not going to allow political agenda to influence us because this should be apolitical. We give the public the truth. This is the reason for the existence of these corporations. Let us not allow our office to be used in any political exercise. I hope not; we don’t want to think that it happens.) /ee