‘Corruption a key factor for voters’

MANILA, Philippines — One in every four Filipino would pick a senatorial candidate who “will not be corrupt,” a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The survey, commissioned by the Stratbase ADR Institute, revealed that “will not be corrupt” was chosen by 25 percent of Filipinos as among the top three qualities they are looking for in Senate bets.

It was followed by those who help or have concern for the poor at 22 percent, have good personal characteristics at 21 percent, trustworthy at 21 percent and have concern or helpful to those in need at 20 percent.

SWS released the technical details of the survey on Saturday in view of its sponsored release last week.

The survey, conducted from Dec. 16 to 19, asked respondents to choose among three qualities, out of 18 options, that they look for among Senate candidates.

Next on the list were those who walk their talk or fulfill promises (14 percent), can give solutions to the problems of the country (nine percent), approachable (seven percent), have good leadership qualities (six percent), knows how to listen and confer with other people (five percent) and have faith in God (five percent).

Completing the list were those who have political will (three percent), educated/intelligent/bright (three percent), brave (three percent), hard worker/diligent (three percent), have plans for the growth of the country (two percent), have done good things for the country (two percent) and fights for/love the nation (two percent). 

The remaining two percent cited other qualities, while one percent did not give an answer.

Across geographic regions, “will not be corrupt” was highest among respondents from Balance Luzon and the Visayas at 26 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

Trustworthiness is highest among respondents from Metro Manila at 28 percent, while those from Mindanao chose having good personal characteristics as their top quality at 29 percent.

The survey had 1,440 adult respondents and an error margin of +/-2.6 percent for national percentages.

‘Fake news’ vs opposition

Sen. Leila de Lima has warned against the surge of “fake news” against opposition figures, including senatorial candidates and their allies, as part of the orchestrated campaign to defame their image ahead of the elections in May 2019.

De Lima, who has thrown her support to the senatorial candidates of the united opposition Otso Diretso, has recently been a target of fake news for being the leading opposition figure who draws international attention due to her detention on illegal drugs charges.

“As campaign season heats up, the purveyors of disinformation have become bolder. Their singular goal is to spread disinformation across social media platforms to discredit opposition figures like me and those running for the Senate,” she said.

“The dissemination of the fake news has become a convenient tool for desperate personalities to confuse the public between truth and lies in an effort not only to defame the reputation of trustworthy individuals, but also to cover up their mess,” she added.

An online post falsely claiming that Julieta de Lima, the wife of Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, is the sister of the senator has been circulating on social media anew.

“It’s an irrefutable fact that I only have one sister named Caroline and I have since maintained that Juliet (the correct name of Sison’s wife) de Lima is not closely related to me,” the senator said.

The circulation of disinformation against De Lima has intensified amid snowballing clamor from local and international communities, the most recent of which came from the US House of Representatives, to free her from unjust detention. - With Cecille Suerte Felipe