By Herbert Vego
An Unbelievable Senatorial Survey
ARE we so naïve as to make sense of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) senatorial survey showing reelectionist Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo on top, sharing 42% of the “magic 12”?
If you think so, why?
I don’t think so because I don’t find them worth the role of legislator over many grounds. May I cite one for each of them?
At the moment, Erwin Tulfo faces an unresolved disqualification case before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over his conviction on four (4) counts of libel involving moral turpitude, which is “a ground for disqualification under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code,” according to Ilonggo complainant Berteni Cataluña Causing.
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go is respondent of plunder complaints filed by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in July 2024 before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with “anomalous award of P6 billion worth 184 government contracts to companies owned by his father.”
Before going on, let us see who are the 10 other frontrunners in the survey in the ordinal order published, namely Ben Tulfo (34%), former senator Tito Sotto (34%),
Sen. Lito Lapid (33%), Sen. Bong Revilla (32%), Sen. Pia Cayetano (31%), former senator Ping Lacson (31%), Sen. Bato dela Rosa (30%), former senator Manny Pacquiao (27%), Makati City Mayor Abby Binay (27%), and Rep. Camille Villar (27%).
Do you sincerely believe they are the most popular senatorial bets?
I have always been skeptical of election surveys, knowing that political survey outfits do them periodically for the money. It stands to reason that whoever pay them expect their money’s worth.
The above SWS survey, conducted on March 15-20, 2025, was allegedly commissioned by Stratbase Consultancy, about which we know nothing.
I find it misleading that each frontrunner’s name is followed by a percentage of nationwide survey respondents when, as revealed by Stratbase itself, only 1,800 unnamed individuals participated.
Where did Bong Go ang Erwin Tulfo get their 42%?
Pray, tell me, can a survey with 1,800 respondents be made to represent 68 million registered Filipino voters all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao?
Hard to believe but true, even the so-called “political analysts” cite the surveys as trend indicators. In effect, they help pollsters mind-condition those intending to vote for the “winning candidates”.
Executives of the survey firms show up in talk shows to explain their findings. One of them traces the “mass appeal” of Bong Go to his Malasakit program that provides medical and financial assistance to the indigent and financially incapacitated patients. But many other politicians have similar programs that source funds from PhilHealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
It takes only common sense to debunk the authenticity of political surveys.
-oOo-
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