Majority of Filipinos still favor extended Mindanao martial law —SWS survey

More than half of Filipinos approve of the extended martial law in Mindanao, results of the Social Weather Stations' (SWS) third quarter survey released Friday night showed.

In a survey conducted from September 23 to 27 on 1,500 respondents, nearly three months before President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi City "liberated from terrorists, 54 percent said they agree with the extension of martial law in Mindanao and 30 percent disagreed while 16 percent remained "undecided."

The percentage of respondents who agreed was slightly lower compared to a similar survey conducted by SWS last June.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law on May 23 following the Maute group's siege in Marawi City. It was extended until December this year.

Malacañang on Saturday welcomed the latest results.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the "undecided" figure was a good indication that support for the extension of martial law in Mindanao could still increase.

"Well, we're certainly thankful that the majority of the Filipino people have shown support for the declaration of martial law," Roque told the international press in Da Nang, Vietnam, where Duterte was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

"Not that although only 50-plus responded that they support the declaration of martial law, the undecided is still in two figures," he added.

Three hundred of the respondents are from Mindanao, 600 are from Balanced Luzon, three hundred from Metro Manila and 300 are from the Visayas.

The results of the previous SWS survey released in July showed that almost six out of 10 Filipinos said it was the "right decision" to declare martial law in Mindanao.

At the briefing, Roque stressed that the declaration of martial law in Mindanao was "necessary to deal with actual terrorism in Marawi."

"It was not just a threat. It resulted in actual fighting. It lasted more than 50 days. So we feel that the declaration was very much justified and we appreciate the support of the people for such a  declaration," Roque added.

When the bloody battle in Marawi City surpassed its initial 60-day deadline in July, Congress approved Duterte's bid to give the state forces more time to neutralize the terrorists in the city.

The armed conflict took hundreds of lives, displaced almost 400,000 people and caused massive destruction in the city. —Margaret Claire Layug/ALG, GMA News