Campaign strategist to voters: Don’t disregard #Halalan2022 surveys

MANILA—Filipinos should not disregard pre-election surveys, even if the results do not favor their favorite candidates, a campaign strategist said.

Alan German told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo on Saturday that survey results were like a "bible", since the data helped candidates to see which demographic they are strong at and needs boosting.

"Malalaman namin saan kami malakas, saan kami mahina," he said. "Meron po kaming idea kung bakit kami mahina sa ganitong sektor, saan pa namin kailangan mag-trabaho pa, anong lugar, et cetera. So napaka-halagang kasangkapan ang survey." 

German noted that most of the time, a certain candidate's supporters would disregard a survey when it showed their bet was lagging. 

" ’Yan ang madalas sabihin lalo ’pag dehado ang kanilang manok. Pero hindi po natin maaaring basta-basta balewalain lang ang halaga ng survey at dahil ang survey po ay reality check," he said. 

German echoed statistics experts who say that surveys were a snapshot in time, as they showed how people viewed a particular candidate at a certain date. This meant survey results were still subject to change. 

"Historically po, kung titingnan lang natin ang Pilipinas, ang botanteng Pilipino madalas ho magbago ang isip. Nasa local man yan o national man yan," he said. 

Presidential candidate and former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has topped recent election surveys by the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. Meanwhile, one of his rivals, Vice-President Leni Robredo trails at 2nd place. 

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