Even Senator Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III, a known supporter of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, acknowledged that there might be a “flaw” in the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) which showed the mayor as the voters’ top choice for president in 2016.
“It seems to be a realistic survey, it was perhaps commissioned by a follower of Mayor Duterte but it was not something unexpected as far as I am concerned,” Osmeña told reporters at the Senate on Monday.
“I think Duterte touches a nerve in the psyche of the Filipino voter, lalong lalo na yun mga D and E voter tawag ng mga pollster (especially those called D and E voter by the pollster). I have seen that. Talagang may hatak si Mayor Duterte (Mayor Duterte truly has clout.),” he said.
The survey conducted from November 26 to 28 was reportedly commissioned by a Davao-based businessman. And the question asked among the 1, 200 respondents was: “With Rodrigo Duterte on this list as a substitute candidate for President, who would you most likely vote for President if the elections were held today?”
READ: Duterte tops SWS poll
But asked if he thought the survey question was misleading, Osmeña said: “Yun na nga. (That’s it.) There might be a flaw there.”
“I have not seen [the] questionnaire. Sometimes there are flaws in the way you ask the question so pag aralan ko muna kung makuha ko yun kopya (I will study it first if I get a copy). Wala sa akin (I don’t have the copy),” he said.
READ: Duterte-topping survey ‘rigged’ — Trillanes
While he openly expressed his support for Duterte, Osmeña said he had nothing to do with it.
And while Duterte has now overtaken Senator Grace Poe in the SWS survey, Osmeña warned that the mayor’s controversial expletives and cursing of Pope Francis were not taken into account yet in the survey.
“Let me see, alam mo may nangyari pa (you know, other incidents have happened) after that survey was taken. ‘Yun parang ininsulto ni Mayor Duterte ang Santo Papa (The supposed insults Mayor Duterte threw at the Pope) and so that was not captured in that survey so we will have to see what effect it had, we have to wait for another survey,” he said.
“Yes I’m sure it will affect him kaya nag-apologize sya (that’s why he apologized). How permanent the damage will be on the image and reputation of Mayor Duterte, we will not know until the next survey. Baka magkaroon ng (There could be a) dip, ng (a) temporary drop in the rating.”
Asked if the effect would be negative for Duterte, “Yes definitely the effect is negative. How temporary that negative is, we don’t know.” CDG