Political rivals in the province of Catanduanes have started a battle of surveys intended to influence would-be voters in the May 12, 2025 National and Local Elections, despite the Commission on Election’s warning against unregistered surveys and unauthorized publication of its results.
Last week, at least two local media outlets and personalities published the results of a purportedly anonymous survey conducted Feb. 9-24, 2025 showing Vice Governor Peter Cua with an overwhelming lead over Dr. Patrick Alain Azanza in the gubernatorial race in a poll of likely voters.
The same survey of 4,100 respondents in 11 towns likewise allegedly indicated most of voters preferring Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes over incumbent Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez and former Vice Governor Shirley Abundo ahead of Provincial Board Member Robert Fernandez.
According to a political observer, what was published is likely an internal survey intended to provide the concerned political party or alliance a view of where their candidates stand vis-à-vis their opponents and guide their strategists on where to concentrate a more intensified campaign by March 28.
It was likewise observed that the alleged survey results did not contain the name of the entity that conducted the survey and the name of the individual or group who paid for it, along with other details such as the margin of error, although it did specify that it was done using a “Stratified Random Sampling Approach with Proportional Allocation based on individual weight of different barangays.”
On its face, the survey appears to be unregistered, in violation of COMELEC Resolution No. 1117 which considers as election offenses the failure to preregister the survey conductor, nondisclosure of survey sponsors and details before the airing or online publication of the results, and non-submission of a comprehensive report to the Commission.
The offenses are punishable by up to six years in prison without probation, deprivation of the offender’s right to vote and his or her perpetual disqualification from holding public office, as laid down in Resolution No. 11086 providing the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9006, or the Fair Elections Act.
Resolution No. 11086 requires any person, juridical entity, candidate, or organization conducting an election survey to first disclose key information to the Comelec before the publication of the survey results.
These include the name of the person, candidate, party, or organization that commissioned, paid for, or subscribed to the survey; the name of the person, polling firm, or survey organization that conducted the survey; the period when it was conducted; the methodology used, including the number of individual respondents and areas where they were selected; the specific questions asked; the margin of error; and the mailing address and contact information of the survey sponsor.
On the other hand, Resolution 11117 requires those who conduct election surveys and disseminate their results to first register with Comelec’s Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD), as only preregistered entities shall be authorized to conduct and publicly disseminate election surveys.
The COMELEC also clarified that if the candidate or the party paid for the survey, the amount should also be disclosed in the required report, as it would be used to verify the candidate or party’s expenses in the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (Soce) that each candidate is required to submit to the poll body before June 11.
Survey firms and media organizations that fail to comply with disclosure or reporting requirements shall be subject to strict penalties, which may include fines, suspension of accreditation, or legal action in case of deliberate misrepresentation of survey data, the COMELEC stated.
In addition to broadcast media owners and website managers, Resolution 1117 also includes survey firms and their owners, as well as editors in chief, as persons and entities as among those criminally liable for publishing surveys without the required disclosures.
According to informed sources, supporters of at least one gubernatorial candidate are also set to conduct their own voter preference survey while a partylist group has already completed their own poll, which included the election chances of those running for key provincial and municipal elective positions.