SWS: Majority of Filipinos say former President Duterte should be held accountable before ICC for drug war killings
A majority of Filipinos agree that former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the thousands of deaths linked to his administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by Stratbase Consultancy and released on Monday, October 13.
A September 2025 SWS survey commissioned by Stratbase Consultancy found that 50% of Filipinos agree former President Rodrigo Duterte should face accountability before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for drug war deaths, with strongest support in Luzon and the Visayas. (Courtesy of SWS)
The Third Quarter 2025 SWS National Survey, conducted from September 24 to 30, 2025, found that 50 percent of adult Filipinos agree that Duterte should face accountability before the ICC — with 31 percent “strongly agreeing” and 18 percent “somewhat agreeing.”
Meanwhile, 32 percent disagreed, with 10 percent “somewhat disagreeing” and 22 percent “strongly disagreeing.”
The same survey results showed that 15 percent were undecided, while four percent said they did not “know enough” to give an opinion on the issue.
Stronger support for ICC accountability in Luzon, Visayas
Support for Duterte’s ICC accountability was highest in the Visayas (54 percent), National Capital Region (53 percent), and Balance Luzon (52 percent).
The lowest level of support came from Mindanao (39 percent) — Duterte’s home region and political stronghold.
Survey details and methodology
The SWS survey interviewed 1,500 adult respondents (18 years old and above) through face-to-face interviews — 300 each in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in Balance Luzon.
The survey has sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for Balance Luzon.
Area estimates were weighted using the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) medium-population projections for 2025 to ensure national representation.
The Social Weather Stations clarified that it designed and conducted the survey independently, with no part of the fieldwork outsourced. The release of this particular survey item was authorized by Stratbase Consultancy for public dissemination.