ONLY a few Filipinos believe the claims by police officers that drug suspects killed in the government's anti-narcotics crackdown resisted arrest, the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The June 27 to 30 poll found that 27 percent said police are "telling the truth" when they said the slain suspects fought back, while 26 percent believed the police are "not telling the truth."
Some 47 percent were undecided on the issue.
The poll results yielded a zero net opinion on police truthfulness, similar to the -1 in September 2017.
Net opinion on "nanlaban" reason by police was lowest in Metro Manila (-25), followed by Balance Luzon (-6), and Visayas (-4), and Mindanao (+31).
The June survey bared that 96 percent deemed it "important" to make sure that drug suspects are captured "alive," while only four percent said it was "not important."
Eighty-six percent stressed the police should consider it important to capture drug suspects alive, while 14 percent believed it was not important.
The same survey revealed that net satisfaction with the government's efforts to stamp out illegal drugs was "excellent" +77 among those who believed police are "definitely" and "probably" telling the truth.
The current administration received a net satisfaction of "very good" +66 among those who were undecided, "very good" +61 among those who said police are "probably" lying, and "neutral" +3 among those who stressed police are "definitely" making a lie.
President Rodrigo Duterte's performance was at "excellent" +77 among those who "definitely" believed the police's claim, and "very good" +66 among those who said police are "probably" telling the truth.
The President's net satisfaction was at "good" +46 among those who were undecided, "good" +36 among those who were "probably" not convinced by the police, and "neutral" +3 among those who emphasized that police are "definitely" making up stories.
Around 1,200 adult Filipinos nationwide were interviewed by the SWS.
The pollster used sampling error margins of ±3 percentage points for national percentages, and ±6 percentage points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. (SunStar Philippines)