MORE than three out of five Filipinos, or 65 percent, disagree in giving cash incentives to police officers for every killed suspect allegedly involved in illegal drugs, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations.
The survey, fielded among 1,500 respondents, revealed that among the 65 percent who opposed the measure, some 46 percent of them strongly disagree while only 19 percent somewhat disagree.
Only 15 percent of those surveyed agreed with the cash reward, leading to a net agreement score of -50 (65 percent disagree minus 15 percent agree).
Indecision, meanwhile, is at 20 percent.
In previous speeches, President Rodrigo Duterte floated the idea of offering a P2-million reward, along with all-expense paid trips to Hong Kong for anybody who could help neutralize policemen involved in the narcotics trade.
In a 2016 CoA report, Malacañang’s expenses on awards and prizes for exemplary policemen shot up to P6.857 million from P110,000 in 2015—an increase of around 6,200 percent.
Duterte had earlier admitted giving away money to police during command conferences so they can use it for drug busts.
In the same survey, more than half of respondents, or 51 percent disagree that persons who use drugs or are involved in the illegal drug trade do not have the capacity to change anymore.
In previous speeches, Duterte himself insisted drug addicts and pushers did not have the capability to change, hence dismissing the need for rehabilitation or intervention from authorities.
In most cases, the President urge policemen to shoot them dead to rid the country of scalawags.
Of the proposition, only 28 percent said they agreed while 20 percent are undecided.
This gives a net agreement score of moderately weak -23, the SWS said.
Filipinos, however, are split in opinion on whether it is right to kill such people.
Some 42 percent of those surveyed disagreed (23 percent strongly disagree, 19 percent somewhat disagree) that it is right that persons who use drugs are killed, an opinion often peddled by the President—while 39 percent agreed and 18 percent were undecided.
This gives a net agreement score of a “neutral” -3, the pollster added.
The non-commissioned survey was conducted from Sept. 23 to 27, had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages.