Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on drugs still overwhelmingly popular with Filipinos
- The quarterly poll of 1,200 Filipinos returned a rating of ‘excellent’ for Duterte’s three-year campaign, with 82 per cent satisfied
- Police say they have killed more than 6,700 suspected drug dealers who resisted arrest, and deny involvement in murders of thousands more drug users
The quarterly poll of 1,200 Filipinos by Social Weather Stations returned a rating of “excellent” for Duterte’s three-year campaign, with 82 per cent satisfied due to a perception of less drugs and crime in the country.
That compared to 12 per cent dissatisfied, because they believed the drug trade was still flourishing and there were too many killings and police abuses. The survey conducted by the independent pollster in late June had 6 per cent undecided.
It was released two days after the leak of a presidential memo ordering departments and state-run firms to decline loans or aid from the 18 countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) – among them Spain, Britain and Australia – that backed a resolution to investigate Duterte’s crackdown.
Police say they have killed more than 6,700 suspected drug dealers who all resisted arrest, and deny involvement in the mysterious murders of thousands more drug users.
Police reject allegations by human rights groups that they have executed targets, falsified reports and tampered with evidence and crime scenes.
