But Miranda, chief of Pulse Asia, said he did not know if government money was used to pay his firm for the survey.
He said Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects Robert Aventajado told him a pro-Estrada group commissioned the survey. He also said Aventajado paid him with a check for the Palace-commissioned survey last Dec. 4.
Miranda gave assurance that although the Estrada camp bankrolled the survey, the results were not mani-pulated to please the financier.
As this developed, Mr. Estrada twitted his detractors who doubted the results of another Pulse Asia poll research commissioned by the Philippine Star showing improvement in his public acceptance rating even as the impeachment trial began.
"Of course, if it’s favorable to us, it doesn’t look good for them. I pity them... they don’t know what they are doing," Mr. Estrada said.
The STAR survey indicated that seven out of ten Metro Manilans are against the continuing protest rallies and demonstrations demanding the presidential resignation.
The respondents preferred the impeachment process as a constitutional mode of ousting the President.
Miranda, who writes a regular column for The STAR, also clarified that Pulse Asia conducts a quarterly opinion poll on government performance at the behest of the budget department.
Miranda disclosed that Aventajado even requested him to conduct a briefing on the survey at Malacañang on Dec. 6, the eve of the impeachment trial.
"The President was even asking me a lot of questions about the survey results," he said.
Miranda asserted that Pulse Asia had nothing to do with the timing in the release of the survey results, adding it was the prerogative of the sponsors.
Perked up by the results of the poll survey, Mr. Estrada directed Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. to conduct a press briefing on the matter.
Speaking at yesterday’s South Metro Journalist forum in Alabang, Miranda took exception to allegations by talk show host Hilarion Henares that the Malacañang-commissioned survey was deliberately conducted in areas where Mr. Estrada enjoyed strong mass support.
"We find it hard to believe the survey results showed that in Metro Manila, the AB class satisfactory rating of Mr. Estrada rose from 15 percent to 40 percent, or that Mr. Estrada is trusted more than Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, former President Corazon Aquino or Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," Henares said the other day.
Miranda insisted, however, that a survey sample cited by Henares to substantiate his allegations was "flawed."
He claimed that Henares’ exposé was "making a mountain out of a molehill."
"He misunderstands the concerned universe for the Rubicon 2 sample as those of registered voters," Miranda said.
He also indicated that Henares "cavalierly assumes that there are areas where the people are pro-Erap (Estrada)."
"In the NCR (National Capital Region), this assumption is not took reliable in predicting the sentiments of the public," he said.
Miranda noted that much of the anti-Estrada sentiment was registered in Malabon and Navotas which Henares said were "Erap territory" because of pro-administration Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta.
"I had to spend precious time testing whether it would make a difference in Rubicon 2’s findings if I completely went overboard and simply adopt the sampling weights suggested by Henares’ mathematical formula," Miranda disclosed.
He added that his own findings did not change the survey results by more than five percentage points, mostly by a mere one or two points in any of the original figures.
"Nothing was significantly modified by adopting his weights. Still Henares managed to account for much sound and fury in the airlanes," Miranda said.
Pulse Asia held its own press briefing to rebut the allegations raised by Henares, whom Miranda claimed was being used by certain political quarters to attack the Estrada administration.