FILIPINOS remain satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte’s three-year war on illegal drugs, a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed.

The poll, conducted from June 22 to 26, found 82% of adult Filipinos satisfied with the government’s anti-narcotics campaign. Those dissatisfied accounted for 12% and 6% were undecided — resulting in a net satisfaction score of “excellent” +70.

According to SWS, the net satisfaction of the anti-illegal drugs campaign has always been either “very good” or “excellent” in the past 11 survey rounds with the highest rating recorded in December 2016 at “excellent” +77.

The pollster also noted that the main reason why 82% of Filipinos across the country are satisfied with the war on drugs is because of the reduction of drug suspects in their local communities.

The undecided respondents, meanwhile, claimed that the drug trade and drug suspects are still prevalent. Those who are dissatisfied, SWS noted, were the same group who recently gave Duterte lower net satisfaction rating.

The June 2019 survey also revealed that net satisfaction with the performance of Duterte was excellent +76.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the poll showed that the international community has a warped understanding of what was happening in the country.

“If it’s true that there are human rights violations, then the people of this country will rise against this administration,” Panelo said Monday, Sept. 23.

“It’s not true that policemen just kill at will, they cannot do that,” he added.

The survey was conducted by SWS using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao).

Since Duterte took office in July 2016, government data has claimed that at least 6,600 people have been killed in the anti-illegal drug operations.