Proof Filipinos consider the war on drugs after three years as having been effective, despite noises from the campaign’s critics, was the 66 percent or a clear majority of respondents to a survey indicating fewer drug users in their communities in the final quarter of last year.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll, conducted from 16 to 19 December 2018, also revealed the number of respondents who believed there were few drug addicts in their area compared to last year was highest in Mindanao at 83 percent, followed by Visayas at 71 percent, Metro Manila at 67 percent and the rest of Luzon at 54 percent.

“By area, only six percent said the number of drug dependence increased and four percent said it remained the same,” the SWS said.

Malacañang also welcomed the outcome of the survey. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the poll was “a validation of the success of the Duterte Administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.”

“As we all know, it is a major campaign platform of President (Rodrigo) Duterte and remains a centerpiece program of his administration, notwithstanding the harshest criticisms, brickbats and pressures the current government is receiving here and abroad,” Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo added the survey results serve as a message to the “political opposition and the detractors of the President” who remain indifferent to the government’s efforts against narcotics to accept the fact that Mr. Duterte’s campaign on illegal drugs, albeit controversial, has yielded positive results.

“They remain skeptical, unimpressed and indifferent of the significant strides made by our authorities in relation to prohibited narcotics even pointing out there remains demand and supply on illegal drugs,” stated the spokesman.

“We ask them to stop playing blind dumb and instead listen to the people,” he added.

Panelo also reiterated that the government will not let up in its efforts to further cleanse society of the evils of illegal drugs.

“Even as our people acknowledge the Administration’s efforts to bring down the number of drug personalities, our focus and drive remain unwavering in destroying the drug apparatus and putting behind bars the drug pushers, with strict observance to operational protocols, until the last day of the President’s term of office in 2022,” he said.

Nearly all respondents or 95 percent believed it was “important” for drug suspects to be captured alive, while only five percent said it is not important.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has been parrying criticisms from rights groups and opposition figures about deaths in the drug war, saying those killed in operations had violently resisted arrest.

“This is similar to 95 percent when the question was first surveyed in June 2018,” the SWS said.

“The dominant opinion in all areas was that it is important that drug suspects are captured alive: it was 97 percent in Metro Manila and the Visayas, 96 percent in Mindanao and 92 percent in Balance Luzon,” the pollster noted.

The latest SWS survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults or those 18 years old and above nationwide. Around 360 participants each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao were surveyed.

The SWS said it employed its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data-processing and analysis and does not outsource any of its survey operations.

The survey has sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The area estimates were weighted by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) medium-population projections for 2018 to obtain the national estimates.

“The quarterly Social Weather Surveys on public satisfaction with the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs are not commissioned. They are done on SWS’ own initiative and released as a public service,” the polling body said.

The poll showed 68 percent of rural residents said the number of drug addicts decreased, 9 percent said it increased and 6 percent opined it remained the same. In urban areas, 63 percent say it decreased, 23 percent saw an increase and 9 percent said it remained the same.

A total of 95 percent of Filipinos say it is important that illegal drug trade suspects be captured alive, the survey showed.

President Rodrigo Duterte had said the government is transitioning to non-traditional rehabilitation programs in helping drug abuse victims recover and assist other victims as well.

“By complementing traditional rehabilitation treatment with non-medical treatment methods, such as group and individual therapy sessions, meditations and horticulture and farm animal therapy, you will not just provide holistic care to your patients, but you will also empower them to become effective drug and alcohol counselors to their peers who suffer the same predicament,” Duterte said in his speech at the recent inauguration of the Moscati Meadows Residential Treatment Facility in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

Duterte said addiction treatment centers like Moscati Meadows are in line with his administration’s campaign against the illegal drug problem in the country.

“This is truly in line with this administration’s efforts to combat the drug menace that has plagued our society for so long. I am truly glad that through this center, you will help them recover and find their way back to society,” he said.

“By reforming drug dependents, we do not only effectively combat this scourge but also give our kababayans (countrymen) a chance to start productive lives anew with their families and loved ones,” he added.

Mr. Duterte said the government has made significant gains in its fight against illegal drugs by conducting almost 900 operations in Nueva Ecija alone, leading to more than a thousand arrests.