Ignore the surveys

By Herbert Vego

“IF elected senator, I would file a bill banning the publication of election surveys.”

We had heard a senatorial candidate made that promise but to no avail; he lost.

Should not at least one of the winners have done that based on the obvious reason that surveys are aimed at influencing voters who hate to “waste” their votes?

There being none, it must be because they have benefited from the surveys.

While the surveys are supposedly intended to give clients – whether the candidates or their backers – a “snapshot” of how they stand at the moment, the emergence of five political pollsters naming identical leading candidates, have raised questions on their credibility.

It’s profitability that appears to be the rule of thumb. As I cited twice in this column, no less than Ronald Holmes, president of Pulse Asia, admitted in a TV interview that he makes five million pesos for each monthly survey. He did not name the names of his sponsors, let alone the “random respondents” of the surveys.

There have been cases where the survey “winners” manifest themselves in reality. Accurate, eh?

Remember the seven-hour glitch that marred the counting of election returns a day after the May 13, 2019 election?

For seven straight hours on April 14, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ceased transmitting election results to its transparency server, fueling public suspicion of manipulation of the automated election system.

Was that why none of the opposition Otso Diretso senatorial candidates – among them former congressmen Gary Alejano, Erin Tañada and Neri Colmenares — made it to the “magic 12”?

Strangely, neophytes Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa placed third and fifth, respectively.

Re-electionist Senator Cynthia Villar occupied the No. 1 spot, a big leap from her 10^th place in 2013.

Fast forward to the present, are we relieved that the present Comelec commissioners now assure us that there would be no repeat of the 2019 seven-hour delay.

Let it be because matching the election returns with the consistent rankings in the presidential/vice presidential surveys would be very open to public suspicion. The surveys of SWS, Pulse Asia, Publicus Asia, Octa Research and Laylo Research have never provided an adequate explanation why the “Uniteam” of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte has consistently upstaged the Leni Robredo-Francis Pangilinan tandem.

Take note that in the most recent Octa survey, Marcos bagged 55% against Leni Robredo’s 22%. Why is that so when Robredo beat him in the 2016 vice-presidential race? Have most of Leni’s voters died?

For vice-president, Madam Sara has a higher 57%.  Sen. Tito Sotto is on 2^nd with 23% while Pangilinan is only 3^rd with 12%.

The surveys, unfortunately, do not represent the numbers of people present in their political rallies. There is even no way of proving whether their alleged number of respondents, from 1,200 to2,400, came face-to-face with enumerators.

The way to stop these questionable surveys is to ignore them and vote for whomever we think are the right choices to bring back the country to true democracy where the executive, legislative and judicial departments enjoy separation of powers.

And may we also count on the Comelec to count right this time?

WHAT HAS LOREN DONE FOR ILONGGOS?

WITH Congresswoman Loren Legarda (Antique) as our guest on “Tribuna sang Banwa” on Aksyon Radyo last Sunday, I grabbed the opportunity to ask why after only one term she was leaving her district to run again for senator. She had already been a senator for three terms.

She had to clarify the issue that she was bent on establishing a political dynasty, having asked her brother Antonio Agapito Legarda to run and replace her.

“I have filed bills of national application that need further attention in the Senate,” she explained, citing House Bill No. 10405, the “One Tablet, One Student Act of 2021.” It seeks to provide every public elementary and secondary student, as well as those enrolled in State Universities and Colleges (SCUs), their own tablet as a learning tool.

It would somehow bridge the gap between the rich and the poor students, the latter being unable to buy high-tech educational gadgets.

Legarda’s bill also provides that students who already have personal learning gadgets of their own should instead receive educational assistance in the form of an internet allowance to cover the cost of connectivity.

Based on DepEd data, 27 million elementary and high school students are enrolled in the current academic year. On the other hand, there are approximately 1.6 million enrolled in state universities and colleges.

In her three years as congresswoman of Antique, she worked hard for the local implementation of TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers), which is aimed at providing minimum-wage emergency employment for workers displaced by the pandemic for at least 10 days, but not exceeding 30 days.

Legarda has allocated funds for the Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) from 2018 up to the present year, under the Department of Health (DOH), for the West Visayas State University Medical Center and Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City.

“As I hopefully return to the Senate,” she said, “sisiguraduhin ko na patuloy pong mararamdaman at mapapakinabangan ng mga Ilonggo ang mga proyekto at programa ng gobyerno, gaya ng nais ko para sa lahat.”

Last Wednesday, Rep. Loren paid a courtesy call to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, Cong. Julienne Baronda and Iloilo Governor Art Defensor Jr.  They all raised her hand to endorse her Senate candidacy.

-oOo-

SUFFICIENT POWER ON ELECTION DAY

MORE Electricity and Power Corp. (MORE Power) is well-prepared to keep Iloilo City fully energized on election day on Monday, May 9. Thanks to MORE President Roel Castro for the assurance.

MORE Power and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) office in Iloilo City are fine-tuning preparation to ensure continuous flow of electricity, barring unforeseen accidents and natural disasters.

MORE Power as a distribution utility relies on the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to transmit electricity from various power plants.

In an unlikely power outage, however, there would be continuous power supply in the polling places because each vote-counting machine of the Comelec is equipped with batteries

If there are still brownouts hitting the city, they are usually short and aimed at correcting deficiencies or replacing equipment.

We don’t want a repeat of the April 30 accident in Tondo, Manila, when a concrete Meralco electric post collapsed, injuring an elderly man and a tricycle driver.