Solon wants poll firms to disclose scope, extent of opinion surveys

Abakada Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz PHOTO from congress.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker wants an inquiry on the need for pollsters like Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations (SWS) to disclose the scope and extent of their surveys.

Abakada party-list representative Jonathan Dela Cruz filed House Resolution 800, saying pollsters have no “particular scope, extent, and standard of functions” on the surveys they conduct.

“In the pursuit of these objectives, no particular scope and extent, and standard of functions have been established for the purpose of determining the metes and bounds of surveys conducted by these firms,” said Dela Cruz.

The lawmaker said the public information committee chaired by Misamis Occidental Rep. Jorge Almonte should conduct the inquiry.

Dela Cruz cited the 2013 fourth quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations that said the net satisfaction rating on President Benigno Aquino III was unchanged.

Malacañang has said the good satisfaction rating on the President disproved criticisms of his handling of major calamities that year – super typhoon “Yolanda,’ which left over 6,000 people dead when it hit Central Philippines in November; the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that jolted Bohol and other nearby provinces in October; and the Zamboanga city siege at the hands of the rogue Moro National Liberation Front members in September, that left over 200 dead.

In the 2013 survey conducted December 11 to 16, the President obtained a net satisfaction rating of plus 49 (“good”), which was similar to the one he had in September 2013, but this figure was still down from plus 64 (“very good”) he obtained in June that year.

“The said survey results were soundly criticized by some quarters specially by affected citizens in these calamity areas,” Dela Cruz said.