MANILA — Malacañang on Saturday welcomed the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing majority of Filipinos believe there are now fewer drug users in their area.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the favorable survey results is a “validation” of the success of the campaign against illegal drugs of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration.
“Even as our people acknowledge the Administration’s efforts to bring down the number of drug personalities, our focus and drive remain unwavering in destroying the drug apparatus and putting behind bars the drug pushers, with strict observance to operational protocols, until the last day of the President’s term of office in 2022,” he said.
Panelo called on the critics of the administration “to stop playing blind dumb and instead listen to the people.”
“The political opposition and the detractors of the President have been most vocal in using the drug war to vilify the Chief Executive and his Administration even bringing the issue to the International Criminal Court. They remain skeptical, unimpressed and indifferent of the significant strides made by our authorities in relation to prohibited narcotics even pointing out there remains demand and supply on illegal drugs,” he said.
The survey, conducted in December 2018, showed that 66 percent of Filipinos claimed that the number of drug addicts in their area has decreased over the past year.
Mindanao, at 83 percent, has the highest percentage of people who answered there are less drug addicts in their area compared to last year, followed by the Visayas at 71 percent, Metro Manila at 67 percent, and balance Luzon at 54 percent.
A total of 68 percent of respondents in rural areas believe the number of illegal drug addicts decreased while 63 percent say the same in urban areas.
