Public opinion appears to lean toward legal accountability over past anti-drug operations, based on new polling data released by Social Weather Stations.
In a nationwide survey conducted in November 2025, 53 percent of respondents said Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa should answer for deaths linked to the anti-drug campaign during his tenure as chief of the Philippine National Police. Twenty-one percent opposed holding him liable, while 20 percent remained undecided. Another five percent said they lacked sufficient information to form a view.
The poll was carried out amid reports that the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.
On the question of whether he should be placed in ICC custody if such a warrant is formally enforced, 44 percent expressed support. A total of 34 percent rejected the idea, 19 percent were uncertain, and four percent declined to state a position.
The survey also gauged public trust in the tribunal itself. Nearly half of those surveyed, or 47 percent, said they believed the ICC would handle former president Rodrigo Duterte’s case fairly. Twenty-four percent indicated limited confidence in the court’s ability to do so, while 29 percent said they were unsure.
Respondents were likewise asked about Duterte’s fitness to undergo trial proceedings. Sixty-nine percent said assertions regarding a decline in his mental condition could only be verified once trial hearings begin. In contrast, 31 percent viewed such claims as a tactic to evade prosecution.
Duterte is scheduled to face confirmation proceedings this week in The Hague. He was permitted not to attend the sessions and instead remain at the detention facility.
The findings form part of the 2026 SWS Survey Review.
