Innocent civilians falling victim to EJKs a ‘remote possibility’—PNP

PNP spokersperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos. Photo by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

The people need not be afraid as it is a “remote possibility” for law-abiding citizens to become victims of extrajudicial killing, the Philippine National Police (PNP) assured on Wednesday.

Responding to the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that the more people expressed worry that they would fall victim to summary killings, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos said there is nothing to fear “as your PNP will do its best to protect the public from any crime.”

“It is a remote possibility for the majority of our law abiding people to become victims of EJK,” Carlos said.

The satisfaction rating of President Duterte’s drug war has declined by 11 points compared with the rating it received in December last year.

The survey, conducted from March 25 to 28, showed that public net satisfaction rating of the government’s war on drugs declined to +66 in the first quarter of 2017. This was a one grade down from the “excellent” +77 in December.

READ: SWS: Public satisfaction with war on drugs falls

Forty-three percent of respondents said they were very satisfied with the administration’s performance, 35 percent were somewhat satisfied, ten percent were undecided, and 12 percent were dissatisfied.

Meanwhile, 73 percent of Filipinos were worried that they or someone they know would be a victim of summary executions—37 percent said they were” very worried,” 36 percent were “somewhat worried,” 14 percent were “not too worried,” and 13 percent answered “not too worried at all.”

“The PNP assures the Filipino nation that your police performs its mandate in accordance with existing laws,” Carlos said.

“The PNP under Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa ensures the rule of law, protects the rights of every citizen, and accords everyone due process,” he added.

Carlos said raising the public satisfaction towards the drug war, which the PNP leads, remains a “challenge” for the police

“If we can raise the figure the acceptance of the public, it would be a good indicator that we have the support of the public,” he said.

The same poll also showed that an overwhelming majority or 92 percent of respondents believed that it was important to capture drug suspects alive.

“The PNP is one with the Filipino people that wants drug suspects who violate the law are arrested ALIVE and let them answer for their crime in a court of law,” he said. JE

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