88 percent of Filipinos support war on drugs —Pulse Asia

More than eight in 10 Filipinos support the government's war on drugs, but a majority believe alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) are taking place in the course of its implementation.

In the third quarter survey conducted on September 24 to 30, Pulse Asia said 88 percent of Filipinos support the war on drugs while only two percent oppose the campaign. Nine percent said they may or may not support it.

Ninety-four percent of respondents in Mindanao said they are backing President Rodrigo Duterte's key agenda, followed by Luzon (88 percent), Visayas (85 percent), and the National Capital Region (84 percent).

The campaign enjoys an 89 percent support among Class D, and 88 percent among Class E. With regard to Class ABC, 80 percent support the anti-illegal drugs campain.

However, 73 percent of Pulse's 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above said they believe EJKs are happening in the war on drugs, up by six percentage points compared to the survey results last June.

Most Filipinos who suspect the presence of EJKs were located in NCR (78 percent) and Luzon (75 percent). The awareness rate in Visayas and Mindanao were at 68 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

A majority of respondents in Classes ABC, or 77 percent, said EJKs are present in the war on drugs, followed by Class D at 72 percent, and Class E at 70 percent.

Twenty percent said they do not believe in EJKs while only seven percent refused to answer.

The war on drugs registered a 100 percent awareness nationwide.

Sought for comment, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II recalled telling some members of the European Union, the American press and some ambassadors when he met them in Washington D.C. last April that the “Filipinos overwhelmingly support the war on drugs.”

“That what they [EU, US representatives]  read in their newspapers are disinformation, misinformation and outright lies all calculated to destabilize the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he said.

Asked if the Filipinos’ continued support for the campaign against illegal drugs can be seen as a slap in the face to its critics, Aguirre said: “Definitely.”

Pulse Asia conducted the survey using face-to-face interviews with an error margin of ± 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. For the geographic areas (Metro Manila, rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao), subnational estimates have a ± 6% error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

Among the key developments that were in the headlines during the survey period were the filing of murder charges against policemen allegedly involved in the killing of Karl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman.

The statements of Duterte and Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa denying that killing drug suspects were included in its national policy were also issued at the time the survey was taken. — with Virgil Lopez/KG/RSJ, GMA News