Miriam: Pollsters have removed my name from survey forms

Presidential bet Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Presidential candidate Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago accused pollsters of removing her name from survey forms distributed to respondents, the reason why she was lagging behind in some surveys.

The lady senator, who did not specify the pollsters, has consistently placed fifth in some scientific surveys.

“No one believes surveys anymore because, in the first place, it’s all over social media that my name has been removed from some of the forms used in these surveys so that respondents would be forced to vote for other candidates,” she said.

The senator said that individuals who claim to have been respondents in some pre-election surveys alleged that they had to write Santiago’s name in the survey form because she was not among the choices, while others said they picked “Undecided” instead.

The senator urged the public against “mind-conditioning” by moneyed candidates and their wealthy supporters.

Santiago, a social media darling who is banking on the so-called youth vote, has topped several social media and campus polls.

She returned to the campaign trail on Wednesday at her hometown in Iloilo City after taking a monthlong absence for her anticancer treatment. She is scheduled to campaign at the Saint Louis University in Baguio City on Saturday. CDG

READ: Miriam Santiago: I told God I’m ready, but He wasn’t