Now it can be told, President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war is backed by majority of Filipinos.
Results of a survey which showed that majority of Filipinos are still satisfied by President Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs only goes to show that Filipinos are seeing the bigger picture–that on the general scheme of things, the drug war is the better option for the nation rather than falling into a narco state.
This is how the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey looked: 79 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with Duterte’s war on drugs as against 15 percent who were dissatisfied. The remaining 6 percent were undecided.
Overall, the drug war received a net satisfaction rating of +64, classified by SWS as “very good.” This figure is similar to the “very good” rating in September 2018 to March 2017 which ranged from +63 to +66 but 6 points below the “excellent” +70 rating in June and March 2019.
This net satisfaction with the anti-narcotics campaign has been consistently raking high satisfaction either very good or excellent in the past 12 survey rounds.
A close look at the results should provide the detractors the view of the silent majority who are satisfied with the drug war, most of which have either a family member or a friend as victims.
The most common reason respondents remain satisfied by the drug war is that drug suspects have lessened at 42 percent, followed by drug suspects have been arrested at 18 percent, and crime has lessened at 11 percent. Rounding the top five reasons are: it diminished the drug trade at 8 percent, and protected the youth from drugs 6 percent.
Now where does this sit on the opinion of foreign groups and personalities who have debunked the Philippine drug war? It’s either a wake up call or a slap on their faces. These entities continue to stick to their unfounded belief that the drug war is a violation of human rights and that it is creating a culture of impunity.
The drug war has been the biggest chatter against the Duterte administration attracting the criticisms of some foreign countries and entities. Recently, the United States have stamped down the entry to its country of all personalities related to what it perceived to be “illegal” incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima who was charged for participation in the illegal drugs trade in the national penitentiary.
However, the real judgment will have to come from the Filipinos themselves, and by far the voice has been consistent.
