MANILA, Philippines — More than half of Filipinos believe police officers are involved in extrajudicial killings, the illegal drug trade and planting of evidence against drug suspects, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.
The December 2018 survey revealed that out of the 1,440 respondents, 66 percent said the allegation that policemen are involved in the illegal drug trade is “definitely or probably true.” Only five percent answered it is “definitely or probably true” while 28 percent were undecided.
Related Stories
Sixty-eight percent believe that cops are definitely or probably involved in the illegal drug trade, while five percent believe otherwise. The remaining 26 percent were undecided.
The survey also found that 58 percent believe the accusation that police officers often plant evidence against suspects they arrest. Thirty-three percent were undecided, while the remaining nine percent said the claim is “definitely or probably not true.”
In a statement Thursday, the Commission on Human Rights said the survey results validate questions that “continue to confront the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.”
“Such allegations are causes of grave concerns, especially that the death count continues to rise and drug operations are in full throttle,” CHR said.
It added: “We then urge the government to appropriate urgent, concrete actions that address perceptions of the police being involved in the violation of laws and rights.”
Filipinos remain conflicted on ‘nanlaban claims’
The same SWS survey showed that a similar number of Filipinos share different views on claims of cops that killed drug suspects resisted arrest.
The poll found that 28 percent of adult Filipinos do not believe police claims that killed drug suspects fought back, while another 28 percent said police are telling the truth. The plurality of 44 percent were undecided.
This yielded the net opinion about truthfulness of the police to net zero in December 2018, similar to the zero in June 2018 and the -1 when first asked in December 2016.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday claimed that there are now seven to eight million drug users in the Philippines.
Agencies involved in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs such as the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and National Bureau of Investigation believe the chief executive “has basis” to say there are now to seven to eight million drug users in the country.
In 2017, Duterte claimed there were around four million drug users in the Philippines, a figure that contradicted data from the policy-making Dangerous Drugs Board that estimated the number at 1.7 million drug users.
The poll was conducted from December 16 to 19, 2018. It has sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.