Duterte should be held liable for killings – SWS poll

MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos believe former president Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable for his bloody war on drugs, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Conducted before Duterte’s arrest and turnover to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity, the poll showed 51 percent of respondents agreed that Duterte should be held accountable for drug war killings.

Only 25 percent disagreed, while 14 percent were undecided.

Ten percent of respondents said they did not know enough to give an opinion on the matter.

The Feb. 15 to 19 survey commissioned by Stratbase Group did not ask respondents their preferred process of holding Duterte accountable.

A December 2023 SWS poll showed most Filipinos supported an ICC probe into drug-related killings during the Duterte administration.

In the latest survey, support for holding Duterte accountable was highest among respondents in the Visayas at 62 percent, followed by 49 percent in balance Luzon and 45 percent in Metro Manila.

Even in Duterte’s bailiwick Mindanao, 44 percent of respondents said they support holding him accountable.

Meanwhile, amid disinformation targeting ICC judges handling Duterte’s case, a lawyer for the victims maintained that the international tribunal is not swayed by public opinion.

“It doesn’t have any impact at all. The ICC is not a political body, it’s a judicial body. It’s only deciding based on the facts and the law. It’s not swayed by public opinion,” Gilbert Andres, executive director of Center for International Law, told NewsWatch Plus.

False claims about the judges and the case have been circulating online.