Comelec cautions public on social media surveys

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday cautioned the public against falling for social media surveys related to the coming May 2019 polls.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez noted that some information, including poll survey results being posted on social media, may not be accurate and might in fact be meant to mislead.

“While it is heartening to see that many people are giving relative unknowns a second look – and even preferring them over more well known politicians, I would caution that surveys conducted on social media are not reliable,” Jimenez said.

He issued the statement amid Facebook posts showing unknown senatorial aspirants supposedly leading in surveys while the re-electionists were trailing behind.

He had previously admitted that social media would greatly help political newbies in running their campaign.

The Comelec is expected to come out with the official list of candidates in the coming May polls by Jan. 23.

But based on Pulse Asia survey, reelectionist Senators Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar are the top senatorial candidates, followed by another re-electionist, Sonny Angara.

However, former senator Lito Lapid, who used to lag behind in earlier surveys, is now among the top five senatorial candidates aside from re-electionist Senators Nancy Binay and Koko Pimentel.

Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon criticized Quezon City candidate for councilor Ramon Medalla for distributing underwear bearing his name. The distribution of underwear was caught on video camera and went viral on social media.

“This one really overdid it,” Guanzon posted on Twitter.

Guanzon said it may be time for the Comelec to clearly state which campaign giveaways should be allowed and which should be prohibited.

Medalla, however, is still not considered an official candidate at this time and therefore cannot be accused of premature campaigning.

Jimenez said everything that happens before the campaign period is not part of what the Comelec is monitoring and being computed as campaign spending.