House bill would ask polling firms to reveal survey financiers

The House of Representatives will start this week plenary discussions on a bill making it mandatory for Social Weather Stations, Pulse Asia and other polling organizations to fully disclose who the financiers of their surveys are.

Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol said polling firms had an obligation to practice full transparency, especially where it concerned their financial backers as their polls shaped public opinion and affected the ranking of candidates in an election.

“Revealing the source of funding and financing of surveys will rightfully apprise the public of who are behind their conduct and their intention of doing so,” said Apostol.

He noted that some surveys tended to be “misleading and confusing,” particularly when those who commissioned them remained anonymous.

Apostol said that a compulsory disclosure of the survey’s financiers would stop rich individuals from using their wealth to misinform the public for selfish gain.

Apostol is the main author of House Bill No. 4475 which provides that any survey firm releasing to the public the results of its poll findings should be compelled to publicize and reveal the complete source of funding of such surveys.

Violators will face imprisonment of six months to one year and a fine of at least P20,000.

The bill also provides that violations relating to any election-related survey would be treated as an election offense and prosecuted under the authority and supervision of the Commission on Elections.

According to the bill, surveys would include written questionnaires, Internet online questioning, SMS messaging and house-to-house or impromptu questioning.

Surveys exempted from full disclosure include polls for purely scholastic work and educational purposes; surveys for personal use; and surveys where the subject matter is connected only to a specific entity or group.