VP Leni Robredo.
MANILA, Philippines — At least 44 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with Vice President Leni Robredo’s performance as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) despite her short stay with the agency and being removed from her job there by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The data was based on the Fourth Quarter 2019 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from December 13-16, 2019 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults 18 years old and above.
The survey was conducted nationwide with 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
On the other hand, 49 percent of Filipinos also believe that Robredo’s removal from ICAD is an “admission” by the Duterte administration that the drug war is failing.
Of the 44 percent who were satisfied with Robredo’s performance, 14 percent expressed they were “very satisfied” while 30 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.”
The SWS survey also shows that 26 percent were dissatisfied with Robredo’s performance in ICAD; 15 percent somewhat satisfied; 11 percent very dissatisfied; and 30 percent undecided.
This gives a net satisfaction score of +18 or the number of percent satisfied minus percent dissatisfied which classifies it as “moderate.”
Duterte earlier said Robredo’s 19-day stint was too short to comprehend ICAD matters.
Survey respondents were asked, “How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with what Vice-Pres. Leni Robredo did in the short time that she was Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD)?”
Meanwhile, the same survey also showed that at least 49 percent agree that Robredo’s removal from ICAD is a reflection that the government’s admission of war on illegal drugs is failing.
Of the 49 percent of the respondents who agreed that Robredo’s removal from ICAD was an admission by the administration that its war on illegal drugs is failing, 18 percent strongly agree while 31 percent somewhat agree.
Of the 21 percent who disagreed, 11 percent somewhat disagreed while 10 percent strongly disagreed. Meanwhile, 30 percent were undecided about the matter. This gives a net agreement score of +28, classified by SWS as “moderately strong.”
The 1,200 respondents of the survey were asked, “How much do you agree or disagree with this statement: “The removal as ICAD Co-Chairperson of Vice-Pres. Leni Robredo, who is in the political opposition and has been a critic of the administration’s war on illegal drugs, is an admission by the administration that its war is failing?”
The survey, which was conducted from Dec. 13 to 16, 2019, fielded seven questions about the campaign against illegal drugs.
The first question was, “Recently, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte removed Vice-President Leni Robredo as Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) or the committee that will oversee the government campaign against illegal drugs. Are you previously aware of this, or have you heard of this only now?”
The survey said 56 percent said they already knew about the removal of Robredo as Co-Chairperson of the ICAD at the time of the survey, while 43 percent said they learned about it only during the interview.
Meanwhile, 44 percent said Duterte was sincere with 16 percent definitely sincere, 28 percent somewhat sincere in appointing Robredo as ICAD Co-Chairperson, while 27 percent answered he was insincere with 15 percent somewhat insincere, 12 percent definitely insincere and 29 percent.
For the fourth question, “Compared to July 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte became President, would you say that the present number of users of illegal drugs has… (Risen a lot, Risen somewhat, Stayed the same, Fallen somewhat, or Fallen a lot)?”
The survey found 73 percent saying that the number of illegal drug users has fallen with 28 percent who believe that the figures have significantly decreased while 46 percent believe the figures are somewhat lower compared to when Duterte took office in July 2016.
Some 14 percent believe the number of illegal drug users is higher with 6 percent believe that the increase is significant, 8 percent believe the numbers have risen somewhat while 12 percent believe the figures stayed the same.
The fifth question, “In the course of the administration’s war on illegal drugs, would you say that the number of abuses of human rights, for example the Extrajudicial Killings or EJKs, has been… (Very many, Somewhat many, Only a few, or Very few)?”
Some 76 percent said there have been many with 33 percent very many, 42 percent somewhat many human rights abuses in the administration’s war on illegal drugs. The remaining 24 percentage said there have been few with 21 percent only a few, 3 percent very few.
About 60 percent agree that Robredo had to right to see the list of high value targets with 30 percent of these who strongly agree and 30 percent only somewhat agree.
Some 15 percent disagree with 8 percent who somewhat disagree and 7 percent strongly disagree to the idea.
The sixth question was, “How much do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘When she was Co-Chairperson of the ICAD, Vice-Pres. Leni Robredo had the right to see the list of High Value Targets (HVT) who are involved in the illegal drug trade in the Philippines’? (Strongly agree; Somewhat agree; Undecided if agree or disagree; Somewhat disagree; Strongly disagree).”
This gives a very strong net agreement score of +45.
The survey results showed that 56 percent agreed with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s move to investigate the alleged Extrajudicial Killings or EJKs committed during Duterte’s war on illegal drugs with 21 percent who strongly agree and 34 percent who somewhat agree to the probe.
Meanwhile, 20 percent disagreed with the move while 11 percent somewhat disagree, 9 percent strongly disagree, and 24 percent percent were undecided about the matter.
The final question in the survey was, “Last July 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to set up an investigation into the thousands of alleged Extrajudicial Killings or EJKs committed during Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. How much do you agree or disagree with this move of the United Nations Human Rights Council?”
The survey results were part of the Fourth Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey, conducted from December 13-16, 2019, that showed 76 percent of adult Filipinos saying there have been many human rights abuses in the administration’s war on illegal drugs, and 24 percent saying there have been few.
“The January 12, 2020 version of this report has inadvertently excluded the item on people’s satisfaction with Vice-President Leni Robredo as Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD),” the SWS said in its survey. (STACY ANG/IAMIGO/Currentph.com)
