NINETY-five percent of adult Filipinos believe it was "important" that drug suspects arrested by responding police authorities are "alive," according to a survey released Saturday, February 16, by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll, conducted on December 16 to 19, showed of the 95 percent, 77 percent believed it was "very important" while the remaining 18 percent said it was "somewhat important."

Only five percent said it was "not important," with one percent of them stressing it was "not at all important."

The opinion about arresting drug personalities alive was dominant in Metro Manila (97 percent), the Visayas (97 percent), Mindanao (96 percent), and Balance Luzon (92 percent).

The SWS also revealed that 87 percent of Filipinos believed it was "important for the police officers" to capture drug suspects alive.

Only 13 percent said it was "not important for the cops" if the drug suspect is arrested alive or not.

The dominant opinion was observed in the Visayas (91 percent), following by 86 percent recorded each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and Mindanao.

The same survey showed 66 percent are convinced the number of drug addicts in their area "decreased" over the past year.

Fourteen percent noted the number of drug users "increased," while seven percent said it remained the "same."

Those who said there are less drug addicts in their area was highest in Mindanao (83 percent).

This was followed by Visayas (71 percent), Metro Manila (67 percent), and Balance Luzon (54 percent).

In rural and urban areas, respectively, 68 percent and 63 percent of Filipinos told SWS that there were less drug addicts.

The SWS interviewed 1,440 respondents aged 18 and above, using sampling error margins of ±2.6 percentage points for national percentages, and ±5 percentage points each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. (SunStar Philippines)