IN THE June 27 to 30 survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on the administration's campaign against illegal drugs, 78 percent of the respondents say they are satisfied with it while 13 percent were dissatisfied, the remaining nine percent were undecided. This resulted in a net satisfaction rating (satisfied minus dissatisfied) of +65, classified by SWS as very good.
However, compared to the December 2016 survey, the recent satisfaction ratings are much lower. In that survey, 85 percent said they were satisfied, eight percent were dissatisfied, and seven percent were undecided. The administration had a net satisfaction rating of 76 percent.
SWS said the satisfaction with campaign against illegal drugs was excellent in Mindanao and very good elsewhere.
In Mindanao, 62 percent said they were very satisfied, 27 percent were satisfied, six percent undecided, two percent were somewhat dissatisfied, and three percent were very dissatisfied. Net satisfaction for Mindanao was at +84.
While the survey showed that the general population was quite happy with what the administration is doing to fight illegal drugs, there are still a lot of things to be done.
The fight against illegal drugs began as a bloody campaign with deaths of alleged illegal drug suspects. Up until today, while there are efforts to make it less bloody, we still receive reports of deaths of people the authorities were after.
Jail cells are also getting crowded as more illegal drug suspects are being arrested. There could also be a possibility of a backlog of cases in the courts.
Let us not forget, that the campaign against illegal drugs is also hounded with allegations against the authorities that they are planting evidences in crime scenes connected with the campaign. We have also received reports of mistaken identity where innocent people were killed or arrested for allegedly being involved in drugs.
However, we should not discount the fact that efforts have been made for a less bloody campaign. For instance, the Davao City Police Office has a comprehensive anti-criminality program dubbed as ‘Oplan Kalinaw.’ The academe has also made efforts to help drug surrenderers and educate the students on the negative effects of illegal drugs.
Progress has been made with the campaign against illegal drugs but there are still a lot of things that have to be resolved by the government.