Palace says SWS survey on drug war has “leading” questions

September 27, 2017

Malacanang questioned the objectivity of a latest survey showing majority of Filipinos expressed "disbelief" over the government's war on drugs due to alleged extrajudicial killings.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the 2nd Quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey "seems" to contain "leading and pointed questions that may have unduly influenced the answers of respondents."

Abella noted some of the leading questions, such as whether the respondent agrees or disagrees that: "Many of those killed by the police in the campaign against illegal drugs did not really fight back the police; and "Many are lying and they are pointing to their personal enemies as drug user/pusher in order for the policemen or vigilante to kill them."

Abella cautioned the polling station in conducting such a survey.

"We expect pollsters to exercise prudence and objectivity to arrive at a closer approximation of public sentiment," he said.

The latest SWS survey, conducted from June 23 to 26 among 1,200 respondents, showed that over half (54 percent) agreed, with 20 percent saying they strongly agreed that many of those killed did not really fight back. Another quarter (25 percent) were undecided and the remaining 20 percent disagreed.

About eight percent said they strongly disagreed and 12 percent said they somewhat disagree. Celerina Monte/DMS