A survey done by Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that majority of adult Filipinos think that policemen took part in extrajudicial killings (EJKs), illegal drug trade, and planting of evidence against drug suspects.
Among 1,440 survey respondents who were asked whether or not cops are “involved in the illegal drug trade,” 68 percent of them said it is “definitely or probably true,” while five percent said it is “definitely or probably not true.” Twenty-six percent of them, however, were “undecided” about the matter.
In terms of area, those who believe that policemen are involved in illegal drug trade was “highest” in Metro Manila at 75 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 68 percent, Mindanao at 67 percent, and lastly, Visayas at 66 percent.
The SWS also asked their respondents if they believe that police officers are “involved in the extrajudicial killing of illegal drug suspects.” To this, 66 percent answered it is “definitely or probably true,” while five percent said it is “definitely or probably not true” and 28 percent were “undecided.”
Belief in police involvement in EJKs was “highest” in Metro Manila at 72 percent, while Balance Luzon at 67 percent, and Visayas and Mindanao at 63 percent.
The poll also revealed that 58 percent of Filipino adults think that cops “often plant evidence against suspects they arrest.” Nine percent, however, said it is “definitely or probably not true.”
The remaining 33 percent, on the other hand, were “undecided.”
Many Filipinos who believe that police officers plant evidence are in Metro Manila and Balance Luzon with both having 59 percent. Visayas placed second with 56 percent, and Mindanao at 55 percent.
Moreover, the latest survey found that most Filipinos, at 44 percent, were “undecided” about the issue on whether or not the police were “telling the truth” when they say drug suspects killed during police operations “fought back” or “nanlaban.”
Twenty-eight percent of its respondents, meanwhile, think policemen were “not telling the truth,” and another 28 percent believe otherwise.
“This brings the net opinion about truthfulness (% definitely/probably telling the truth minus % probably/definitely not telling the truth) 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,” the SWS said.
The pollster conducted the poll from December 16 to 19 last year using face-to-face interviews of its survey respondents nationwide; 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.
It was released on Wednesday, February 27, a week after President Rodrigo Duterte made a remark that his war on drugs, which he has been pushing even before he became the country’s chief executive, will be “harsher” in the coming days.