THE international community should stop interfering with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly war on drugs because majority of Filipinos support it, his spokesman said on Monday, citing a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll.

“This is a loud and clear repudiation of the rambunctious political opposition and cantankerous detractors” of Mr. Duterte, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.

The president’s critics “continue to spread lies and fake narratives to taint the significant headways of the current government,” he added.

Majority or 79% of Filipinos were satisfied with Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign that has killed thousands, according to the September SWS poll.

“This too shall serve as a wake-up call against foreign countries and entities to take their cue from the genuine sentiments of the Filipino people and cease from their continuous affront against our sovereign state with their pretended or feigned concern about human rights,” Mr. Panelo said.

The same poll found that 29% of Filipinos did not believe police claims that some suspects were killed because they resisted arrest.

Philippine police have said they have killed about 6,000 people in illegal drug raids, many of them resisting arrest. Some local nongovernmental organizations and the national Commission on Human Rights have placed the death toll at more than 27,000.

SWS interviewed 1800 adults for the poll, which had an error margin of ±2.3 points.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is probing alleged human rights violations in the war on drugs. — Gillian M. Cortez

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