54% of Pinoys think many of slain drug suspects didn’t resist cops

Many Filipinos think that several drug suspects killed in police operations did not really put up armed resistance ("nanlaban") during police operations.

Pollster Social Weather Stations' 2017 Second Quarter study shows that among the survey's respondents, 54 percent agreed, with 20% saying they strongly agree, that slain suspects did not shoot it out with the cops.

Some 25  percent of the respondents were undecided and the remaining 20% disagreed.

Results of the survey were posted on the SWS webpage, indicating that the survey was conducted from June 23 to 26, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide, 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Also, the SWS said that the survey had a sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

In the report summary, the SWS said, "Incredulity over the 'nanlaban' (shot it out with cops) was highest in Metro Manila, where 63% of the population believe that many of those killed did not really fight the police.

It is slightly lower in the rest of Luzon at 56%, and in the Visayas and Mindanao, both at 49% (correctly rounded)."

Moreover, it said that the very poor were more likely than the wealthy to be incredulous about the “nanlaban” reason for killings attributed to the police.

Among those in class E, 58% agreed with the statement; in class D or the masa, it is 54%; and in class ABC, it is a much lower 40%.

Not involved in illegal drugs

Meanwhile, the SWS survey said 49 percent of the population agreed that those killed by cops were not really involved in illegal drugs. Twenty-three percent disagreed while 27 percent were undecided.

The number was again higher in Metro Manila with 58 percent, followed by Visayas with 52 percent. The rest of Luzon had 48 percent while Mindanao got 45 percent.

Half of the respondents also agreed that many are lying about supposed suspects and pointing at their personal enemies as drug users or pushers to get an easy excuse to get rid of them using law-enforcement authorities. This belief is highest in Metro Manila at 63 percent.

The survey also showed a level of agreement in Mindanao at 51 percent;  Visayas, 42 percent; and in the rest of Luzon, 50 percent. —Anna Felicia Bajo/LBG, GMA News