GORDON: ELECTION SURVEYS ARE JUST PROPAGANDA

(STAR) Bagumbayan presidential bet Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday said surveys conducted by various polling firms are mere propaganda.

In a roundtable discussion with STAR editors and reporters, Gordon said voters should not base their decisions on survey results but on the track record of candidates.

“The surveys are nothing but propaganda. We cherish our electoral process which is very transparent. We vote, they count. I have proven that through automated elections,” he said.

Gordon said the survey firms should publish the names of people who commissioned the surveys.

“In the surveys, they don’t even publish who are paying for these surveys. They must. I demand that they show it. Every presidential candidate, every senator, every congressman, they must show. I demand it. In the United States, they do that,” he said.

Gordon also questioned the method used in the conduct of surveys, pointing out that when he ran for the Senate in 2004, the surveys placed him way out of the winning circle but he was elected anyway, even without votes from the Iglesia ni Cristo.

“I was number 29 when I ran for the Senate and landed number 5 even without the Iglesia. How can I believe that (survey results)?” he said.

Gordon said it is hard to believe that he has an approval rating of only one percent in the surveys when he got 13 million votes when he ran for the Senate.

“They have surveyed 1,500 people. Have you met anyone who was surveyed? How can I get only one percent when I got 13 million votes last time? I think at least I’ll get 10 out of 100,” he said.

Gordon said that in the previous presidential election, President Arroyo was supposed to win over her closest rival, the late Fernando Poe Jr. in the metropolis. But when the votes were counted, Poe won in all of Metro Manila except Las Piñas.

“We are enriching the people who do the surveys,” he said, adding that one of the owners of a survey firm now reportedly has a big house in an upscale subdivision.

“Who are running the surveys? What questions are they asking? Is my name even there?” he said. – By Mike Frialde