Many Filipinos have expressed fear they would become victims of extrajudicial killings or EJKs, according to a new Social Weather Stations Survey.
Results of a Dec. 16 to 19, 2018 poll of 1,440 adults showed 78 percent of Filipinos were worried they, or anyone they know, would be victims of summary execution, up by five points from the previous 73.
But 22 percent said they were “not worried,” compared with 27 percent in June 2017.
The survey also found 50 percent of respondents said the poor were the usual victims of EJKs, while 48 percent said the killings did not choose a class, and two percent said only the rich were targeted.
The worry is highest in Visayas at 83 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 79 percent, Mindanao at 78 percent, and Balance Luzon at 75 percent.
However, three percent believed that only the rich became EJK victims while 48 percent said the problem did not choose a class.
More than 5,000 drugs suspects have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, getting widespread criticism for alleged state-sponsored killings.
Also, the SWS said 12 percent of respondents personally knew a victim of EJK, down by three points from 15 percent recorded in the June 2017 reading.
The survey also said 71 percent of Filipinos believed the administration was “serious in solving the EJK problem.”
This is five points above from 66 percent previously.