Filipinos split over police trust in drug war—SWS

In this picture taken on July 8, 2016, police officers investigate the dead body of an alleged drug dealer (R), his face covered with packing tape and a placard reading “I’m a pusher”, on a street in Manila. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS

Filipinos are divided on the claims of policemen that drug suspects being killed in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs allegedly resisted arrest, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

Twenty-eight percent of 1,500 respondents in the SWS survey conducted from Dec. 3 to 6 said the police were telling the truth when they said the suspects killed resisted arrest. This consists of nine percent answering “definitely the truth” and 19 percent saying it was “probably the truth.” Twenty-nine percent believed that police were not telling the truth, and 42 percent said they were unsure.

But despite the plurality distrust of police, the same SWS survey yielded an “excellent” +77 net public satisfaction with the government’s antinarcotics campaign, steady from the +76 recorded in the previous quarter.

This consists of 85 percent saying they were satisfied with the drug war, 8 percent dissatisfied, and 7 percent undecided.

The survey also saw 88 percent of respondents agreeing that the drug problem in their area declined since Duterte assumed the presidency on June 30—56 percent said they “strongly agree with the observation,” 32 percent said they “somewhat agree,” nine percent were undecided, two percent said they “somewhat disagree,” and only one percent said they “strongly disagree.”

Similar to the third-quarter survey, majority of respondents or equivalent to 71 percent said it was “very important” that drug suspects be caught alive—23 percent said it was “somewhat important,” five percent answered “somewhat nor important,” while only one percent said it was “not at all important.”

Thirty-nine percent of respondents tagged extrajudicial killings amid the administration’s war on drugs as a “very serious” problem; 30 percent said it was “somewhat serious,” 22 percent were undecided, and only three percent said it was “not serious at all.”

But 70 percent of respondents also said the administration is serious in solving the EJK problem. This consists of 38 percent saying the government was “very serious,” 32 percent saying it was “somewhat serious,” 20 percent undecided, and six percent saying the administration was “somewhat not serious” in addressing summary executions.

Latest data from the Philippine National Police showed 2,886 “deaths under investigation” from July 1 to Dec. 12. The police have killed 2,102 drug suspects in legitimate operations from July to Dec. 14.

The same survey showed 78 percent of respondents expressed worry that they or someone they know would be killed—45 percent said they were “very worried” they will fall victim to summary executions, while 33 percent said they were “somewhat worried.”

READ: 8 of 10 Filipinos fear getting killed in drug war

The survey, which was first published on BusinessWorld, had a margin of error of + or – 3 percentage points. JE