51% of Filipinos agree Rodrigo Duterte should be held liable for drug war killings—SWS survey
A majority of Filipinos believe former president Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable for alleged killings in his bloody drug war campaign, a Social Weather Stations survey revealed.
In the survey, released on March 19, the pollster asked a total of 1,800 respondents whether they believe Duterte should be held accountable for the killings related to the anti-drugs campaign during his presidency.
The survey, commissioned by Stratbase Consultancy, conducted face-to-face interviews from Feb. 15 to 19 with 300 registered voters from Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao. According to the research institution, the area estimates were weighted by the COMELEC 2025 Project of Precincts data for validated voters to obtain the national estimates.
The exact phrasing of the survey question was, “Gaano po kayo SUMASANG-AYON o HINDI SUMASANG-AYON na dapat panagutin si dating Pang. Rodrigo Duterte sa mga patayang may kaugnayan laban sa illegal na droga noong panahon ng kanyang administrasyon?”
This can be answered with: Talagang sang-ayon; Medyo sang-ayon; Hindi tiyak kung sang-ayon o hindi sang-ayon; Medyo hindi sang-ayon; Talagang hindi sang-ayon; Hindi sapat ang kaalaman upang magbigay ng opinyon.
The results showed that 51% of Filipinos were in favor of holding the former president liable for the alleged drug war killings. Participants in Visayas have the highest number of Filipinos who agree that Duterte should be held liable at 62%, followed by Northern Luzon at 60%. Balance Luzon recorded 49%, Central Luzon at 48%, Mindanao at 47%, The National Capital Region at 45%, and Southern Luzon at 44%.
Meanwhile, 52% of participants from rural areas also agreed that the former president should be held accountable, a little higher compared to the urban areas at 48%.
The largest group of respondents (34%) were registered voters aged 55 and older, followed by those aged 35-44 (20%).
The sampling error margins are ±2.31% for national percentages, ±3.27% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.66% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 for murder, torture, and rape—which are part of the 15 forms of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute—in connection with his administration's alleged bloody war on drugs called Oplan Tokhang. Based on the government's "Real Numbers" data, a total of 6,229 individuals were killed during anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2022.
Rights groups, however, estimated that the number of deaths from the bloody anti-narcotics campaign reached as high as 27,000.
After his initial appearance before the ICC, he is now set to appear in another hearing on Sept. 23 for the confirmation of charges.
The judges will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the charges against him.
Duterte could be the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC.
If the charges against him are confirmed, it could be months before the case eventually goes on trial, and years before a final judgment is rendered.
