MANILA: Half of Filipinos believe former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable at the International Criminal Court over his controversial anti-drug campaign, an opinion poll showed on Monday.
Duterte, 80, has been in ICC custody since March, awaiting trial in relation to his administration’s “war on drugs” from 2016 to 2022, which ICC prosecutors estimate had resulted in the extrajudicial killing of 30,000 people.
The new survey, conducted by Social Weather Stations, an independent Philippine polling group, asked respondents how much they “agree or disagree that former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable in the International Criminal Court for the killings related to illegal drugs during his administration?”
It found that 50 percent of respondents agreed Duterte should be held responsible, 32 percent disagreed, 15 percent were undecided and 4 percent said they did not know enough to answer.
Support for accountability was highest in Visayas, 54 percent, and Metro Manila, 53 percent. In Mindanao – where the former president traces his political roots and despite detention won the mayoral election in May – the support for his trial was the lowest at 39 percent.
