Broad Support for Duterte's Drug War in Philippines, Pew Finds
- Some 78% support handling of issue, while 86% back president
- Poll predates recent controversies over administration moves
Commuters wait to board Jeepneys stuck in traffic on a road in Manila, the Philippines, on Saturday, April 8, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air.
Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/BloombergMore than three-quarters of Filipinos support President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, despite thousands of deaths and international condemnation over alleged rights abuses, a Pew Research Center poll has found.
Some 78 percent of Filipinos approve of Duterte’s handling of the illegal drugs issue, with 62 percent believing the government’s campaign was making progress, according to Pew’s face-to-face surveys of 1,000 adults. The president also remained extremely popular a year after his election, with 86 percent saying they had a favorable view of him, a result in line with domestic surveys. The poll had a margin of error of 4.3 percent.