SWS: Nearly half of Filipinos think innocent casualties are inevitable in gov’t drug war

MANILA, Philippines — Almost five out of 10 Filipinos believe that killings of innocent individuals are unavoidable in the course of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, the latest Social Weather Stations revealed.

Out of the 1,500 respondents, 46 percent agreed with the statement that: “It cannot be avoided that there are innocent citizens who will die in order to completely eradicate the illegal drug problem in the country.”

Of the 46 percent who said it is inevitable, 21 percent said they “strongly agree” while 24 percent said they “somewhat agree.”

Meanwhile, 35 percent disagreed that innocent casualties cannot be avoided in the drug war—with 15 percent saying they “somewhat disagree” and 20 percent saying they “strongly disagree.”

Only 19 percent answered they are undecided.

This gives a net agreement score of +10 or “moderately strong” as classified by SWS.

Net agreement that killing innocent civilians is inevitable in the drug war was highest in Visayas at a “moderately strong” +21. It was followed by Metro Manila at “moderately strong” +18, Balance Luzon at a “neutral” +9 and Mindanao at a “neutral” +1.

“The net satisfaction scores of the national administration's campaign against illegal drugs (good +56) and President Rodrigo Duterte (good +44) tend to be lower among those who disagree that innocent casualties cannot be avoided in the drug war, compared to those who agree (excellent +70 and very good +52, respectively) and were undecided (very good +59 and very good +53, respectively),” the polling firm said.

In a separate SWS survey, it was revealed that four out of 10 Filipinos disagree that killing people using or involved in illegal drug trade is right.

Forty-two percent disagreed that killing persons who used drugs or were involved in the drug trade was right, while 39 percent think that killing is correct. Only 18 percent were undecided.

Duterte's brutal campaign against illegal drugs, which was launched last year upon his assumption of the presidency, has been widely criticized by local and international groups.

READ: Filipinos almost equally divided on killing of drug suspects, says SWS

The latest #RealNumbersPH government data release as of October 25 raised the number of drug personalities who died in anti-drug operations to 3,967.

However, human rights groups estimate a higher death toll, with more than 12,000 individuals killed in the course of the administration’s anti-narcotics campaign.

Last month, Duterte designated the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as the “sole agency” in charge of the war on drugs amid simmering public outrage over alleged police abuse in the continuing crackdown.

On claim that government employs people who report drug personalities

The same survey found that 49 percent agreed—25 percent saying “strongly agree” and 24 percent saying “somewhat agree”—with the statement: “In our area, the administration probably has people who secretly observe and report those who are users and those who are sellers of illegal drugs.”

Only 19 percent disagreed with 10 percent answering they “somewhat disagree” and 10 percent answering they “strongly disagree.”

Thirty-one percent said they are undecided.

This gives a net agreement score of moderately strong +29.

Net agreement that the government probably has people who secretly observe and report drug users and pushers was highest in Metro Manila at an “extremely strong” +50. It was followed by Balance Luzon at a “moderately strong +29, Mindanao at a “moderately strong” +26 and Visayas at “moderately strong” +21.

The survey was conducted from September 23 to 27 using face-to-face interviews.

It has a sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±4% for Balance Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

READ: SWS: More Filipinos think it’s vital to capture drug suspects alive