MANILA, Oct 16 : Nearly nine out of 10 Filipinos support Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, and almost three quarters believe extrajudicial killings are taking place in the bloody crackdown, an opinion poll showed on Monday.
Duterte’s signature campaign has killed thousands of Filipinos and caused international alarm, amid widespread allegations by activists that police are executing suspected drug users and dealers.
Police reject that and say every one of the more than 3,900 victims in their anti-narcotics operations were killed because they were armed and had violently resisted arrest.
Eighty-eight percent of the 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by pollster Pulse Asia last month said they support the anti-illegal drugs campaign, with nine percent undecided and two percent against it.
But 73 percent of respondents believed extrajudicial killings were taking place, up from 67 percent in the June poll.
A fifth of Filipinos felt there were no such killings, as the authorities maintain, down from 29 percent in June.
The issue of extrajudicial killings is contentious in the Philippines, where definitions of what it means vary from those typically used by international organizations and human rights groups.
Pulse Asia in its survey defined the term as “killings done by people in authority, such as the police or soldiers, that do no follow the rule of law.”
Political analysts Ramon Casiple said the survey showed support for the crackdown from those who felt crime was being tackled, but reservations among those most affected.
“Communities with reported deaths, generally urban poor communities, are getting increasingly concerned of the killings,” he added.
The survey comes amid unprecedented scrutiny on the war on drugs and several opinion surveys by another pollster that indicated dwindling trust of police accounts of operations, and whether victims were indeed all drug dealers as police maintain.
Duterte last week ordered police to withdraw from the anti-narcotics campaign and leave all operations to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) following scrutiny of police conduct.
He noted fewer killings in operations by PDEA, an agency a fraction of the size of the police, and said he hoped critics and “bleeding hearts” would be satisfied by his decision. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie)
Philippine survey shows big support for Duterte’s drugs war
Philippine survey shows big support for Duterte’s drugs war
EU should consider forming combined military force: defense chief
- Kubilius floated creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops” that could eventually replace US forces
- Trump has heightened fears among NATO allies over Washington’s reliability by insisting he wants to take over Greenland
BRUSSELS: EU countries should weigh whether to set up a combined military force that could eventually replace US troops in Europe, the bloc’s defense chief said Sunday.
EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius floated creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops” as a possible option to better protect the continent.
“How will we replace the 100,000-strong American standing military force, which is the back-bone military force in Europe?” he asked in a speech in Sweden.
The suggestion comes as US President Donald Trump has heightened fears among NATO allies over Washington’s reliability by insisting he wants to take over Greenland.
Worries over Trump’s commitment to Europe have already spurred countries to step up efforts to bolster their militaries in the face of the threat posed by Russia.
Ideas about establishing a central European army have floated around for years but have largely failed to gain traction as nations are wary of relinquishing control over their militaries.
The US has pushed its European allies to increasingly take over responsibility for their own security, and raised the prospect it could shift forces from Europe to focus on China.
“In such times, we should not run away from the most pressing questions on our institutional defense readiness,” said Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister.
In his speech Kubilius also advocated for the creation of a “European Security Council” of key powers — including potentially Britain — that could help the continent take decisions over its own defense quicker.
“The European Security Council could be composed of key permanent members, along with several rotational members,” he said.
“In total around 10-12 members, with the task to discuss the most important issues in defense.”
He said the first focus of such a body should be trying to change the dynamics in the war in Ukraine to ensure that Kyiv does not end up losing.
“We need to have a clear answer — how is the EU going to change that scenario?,” he said.
“This is the reason why we need to have a European Security Council now!“
