MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Saturday said critics of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs should “stop playing blind dumb and instead listen to the people” in response to a new opinion poll showing majority of Filipinos see fewer drug addicts in their area. Results of a Dec. 16-19, 2018 Social Weather Stations poll of 1,440 adults showed 66 percent of Filipinos saying the number of drug users in their community decreased. Fourteen percent said it increased while the rest said it was unchanged. The same poll also found 95 percent of adult Filipinos said it is “important” for them that the police capture illegal drug suspects alive — steady since the survey question was asked to respondents in June 2018. He later sought a six-month extension to his drug crackdown, saying he was shocked by the magnitude of the problem when he became president.

Source: Philippine Star February 16, 2019 09:33 UTC