MANILA, Philippines — Forty-nine percent of Filipinos agree that the removal of Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) is an “admission” by the Duterte administration that the drug war is failing, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said Sunday.

In its report, SWS said a majority of the 1,200 respondents in the face-to-face survey conducted from December 13 to 16 agree that 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.”

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One of the questions asked of respondents was: “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 found 49% agreeing (18% strongly agree, 31% somewhat agree), and 21% disagreeing (11% somewhat disagree, 10% strongly disagree) that the removal of Vice-Pres. Leni Robredo as Co-Chairperson of ICAD was an admission by the administration that its war on illegal drugs is failing. Thirty percent were undecided about the matter,” the SWS reported.

Twenty-one percent of those surveyed, meanwhile, disagree, while 30 percent were undecided.

The survey resulted to a +28 net agreement that Robredo’s relief from ICAD is an admission by the administration that its war on illegal drugs is failing.

In the same survey, the poll agency said there was +45 net agreement that Robredo had the right to see the list of High Value Targets (HVT).

Respondents were asked: “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).”

The survey found 60% agreeing (30% strongly agree, 30% somewhat agree) and 15% disagree (8% somewhat disagree, 7% strongly disagree) that Robredo had the right to see the list of HVT when she was co-chair of ICAD.

Twenty-five percent were undecided

The respondents comprise 300 each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

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It had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

At the time of the survey, 56 percent were aware of Robredo’s removal as co-chairperson of the committee, the SWS noted.

President Rodrigo Duterte fired Robredo as ICAD co-chairperson in November 2019, only after 18 days since appointing her to the panel, in response to her taunt to just tell her if he wants her out.

Survey results further show that 44 percent believes Duterte was sincere in appointing Robredo to the ICAD, while 27 percent said he was insincere and 29 percent were undecided.

The survey also found that 60 percent agree that Robredo had the right to see the list of high-value targets when she was still co-chairperson of the committee. Fifteen percent disagree while 25 percent were undecided.

This gives a very strong net agreement score of +45, according to the SWS.

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