Press Release
April 19, 2017

A NATIONAL NIGHTMARE
Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on SWS survey saying that fewer Pinoys are satisfied with drug war

More killings. Less public approval.

This is how I see the latest SWS survey which pointed to an 11-point drop in public net satisfaction rating for the Duterte government's war on drugs.

The government's war on drugs may have had massive popular support at the start, but inevitably it has turned into a national nightmare. As long as the government's anti-drug campaign continues to create a climate of fear, impunity and killing, this war is a losing battle with less and less supporters.

The SWS survey is also a slap in the face for EJK deniers. For a second consecutive time, the majority or 73 percent of Filipinos are worried that they or someone they know would become victims of extrajudicial killings. The fear is real. EJKs are a reality. The government's attempt to massage its original data and/or reintroduce new and questionable data on the killings attributed to the drug war cannot hide this fact.

Our nation is now farther away from the order and security that President Duterte promised during the campaign. Our people are living in fear, among the ghosts of the drug war victims, without any semblance of justice in sight. It's time for the public to wake up from this national nightmare and set things right by holding all those responsible for these killings accountable alongside the implementation of a public health agenda on the anti-drugs campaign.

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