Filipinos say it’s important to capture drug suspects alive–SWS

Of the 1500 Filipinos ages 18 years old and up surveyed through face-to-face interviews, 76% considered it to be very important, while 19% said it was somewhat important. (Shutterstock photo)

In a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, results showed that 95% of adult Filipinos think it is important that drug suspects be captured alive.

Of the 1500 Filipinos ages 18 years old and up surveyed through face-to-face interviews, 76% considered it to be very important, while 19% said it was somewhat important.

The remaining 5% were divided into 3% saying that it is somewhat not important, and 2% saying that it is not at all important.

“The dominant opinion in all areas was that it is important that drug suspects are captured alive. It was 96% in both Metro Manila and Balance Luzon, and 94% in both the Visayas and Mindanao,” SWS said.

Respondents were also asked if they thought the police considered capturing drug suspects alive important or not.

The survey revealed that 77% believed it was important for the police, with 51% saying it is very important for the police, and 25% saying it is somewhat important for the police.

A total of 23% think that the police do not consider it important, with 14% saying it is somewhat not important for the police, and 9% saying it is not at all important for the police.

According to SWS, “The proportion of those who believe that the police consider it important to capture drug suspects alive was highest in Mindanao at 86%, followed by Visayas at 83%, Metro Manila at 77%, and Balance Luzon at 69%.”

SWS noted that that President Rodrigo Duterte and the administration’s net satisfaction rating were lower among those who say that the police consider capturing drug suspects alive as not important.

Fielded from September 23-27, respondents were asked the questions “Gaano ka-importante para sa inyo na mahuli ng mga pulis nang buhay ang mga taong pinaghihinalaang kasabwat sa illegal na droga? (How important is it to you that the police capture alive the suspects allegedly involved in illegal drugs?) and “Sa pagtupad ng kapulisan ng kanilang tungkulin sa kampanya laban sa illegal na droga, sa inyong palagay, gaano ka-importante sa mga pulis na mahuli nila nang buhay ang mga taong pinaghihinalaang kasabwat sa illegal na droga? (In the police’s fulfillment of their duty in the campaign against illegal drugs, in your opinion, how important is it for the police that they capture alive the suspects allegedly involved in illegal drugs?)

600 respondents came from Balance Luzon, 300 from Metro Manila, 300 from Visayas, and 300 from Mindanao.

On October 10, Duterte ordered PDEA to handle anti-drug operations, mentioning the Philippine National Police (PNP) to only be on guard.

(Read: Duterte tags PDEA  as ‘sole agency’ for all anti-drugs ops and PNP bids goodbye to ‘Tokhang’)