SWS and Pulse Asia polling firms owned by relatives and friends of Noynoy Aquino

This is it guys. If the following information does not convince you not to vote for Noynoy Aquino, I don’t know what will. Heck, Noynoy’s alleged mental disorder is ok with you, so it is so hard to tell what else can convince you that he is not the right man for the top job.

You know how most of you will be voting for Noynoy Aquino just because the media is saying that he is leading the polls? Well, guess what: According to this paper I stumbled upon, the two polling firms who have been conducting the presidential polls have interlocking directorships with most of them actually members of the Philippine Oligarchy. If you don’t know what that means, I’ll spell it out: it means, the firms are actually owned by family and friends of, TADAA!!!: Noynoy Aquino. Holy nepotism, Batman!

A certain Professor Alfredo Sureta wrote a paper about the public opinion organisations in the Philippines in December 2009. In that paper, he stated that “some of the prominent members of the board and stockholders of Pulse Asia are blood relatives of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, official candidate of the Liberal Party” who is now ironically leading the polls.

Here’s an excerpt from that paper:

Interlocking directorship within two polling firms

The SWS was founded in 1986 by Dr. Mahar Mangahas, Prof. Felipe Miranda, then DPWH Sec. Jose P. de Jesus (under President Cory Aquino), Mercy Abad among others while Pulse Asia was founded in the 90s when Prof. Felipe Miranda separated from Mangahas and bolted SWS. It should be noted that Managhas is the cousin of the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr while some of the prominent members of the board and stockholders of the Pulse Asia are blood relatives of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, official candidate for the president of the Liberal Party. The corporate records of both firms that are available at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will also show interlocking directorship with several personalities appearing as stockholders of both SWS and Pulse Asia.

Felipe Mirand, Rosalinda T. Miranda, Gemino H. Abad, Mercedes R. Abad, Jose P. de Jesus appear in SEC records as being founders and or stockholders of both SWS and Pulse Asia.

Mercedes R. Abad who is president of TRENDS-MBL, is the one who used to conduct the field research for both SWS and Pulse Asia.

Jose P. de Jesus of Pulse Asia was the DPWH Secretary during the time of the late President Cory Aquino.

Antonio O. Conjuangco and Rafael Conjuangco Lopa of Pulse Asia are cousins of Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Conjuangco Aquino III

What else can we make of this information? Not much except the fact that now we know that these polling firms are so closely linked to the candidate who is now leading the polls. Since these polling firms do not divulge the types of questions they provide or how they conduct their surveys, no one really knows for sure how they come up with the numbers that they publish. It seems to me that there is a lot of secrecy in how they arrive at the conclusion of Noynoy being at the top. Another important question is, since the directors of the said firms are either friends or relations of Noynoy, are they conducting these surveys pro-bono? I can’t imagine these people rooting for another candidate. Gibo Teodoro might be a Conjuangco but we all know that there is some kind rumoured rift between him and the family.

Now we know that Richard Gordon was not out of line in suing these firms. Now we know that there is merit in his claim that the timing and the way these surveys are conducted might be favourable towards Noynoy. It is also quite suspect that media outlets also pounce on the results as soon as they are out and quickly publish these with their tailored interpretation. As Professor Alfredo Sureta said, candidates and campaign planners who subscribe to surveys know where and how to hit the opponents in the last stretch down the road. The problem is, if you don’t have the funds to subscribe to surveys, you won’t make the mark. But if you have friends in the right places like Noynoy, you may come out on top.

Professor Alfredo Sureta also mentioned that in the United States, during pre-election campaigns, poll results by established and upcoming media trade names and polling organizations are published side by side every day in the newspapers, posted on the internet and even aircast television. No results were identical and each varied significantly with the other. Because there are more polling firms in the US (and for the most part not likely to be owned by a relative of a presidential candidate), it levels the playing field. This gives the public wider latitude for decision making. It means, people can make their own informed decisions based on the comparison from more than two of them and not be forced to swallow a colluded ABS-CBN or Inquirer.net “interpretation” of the survey results.

It makes sense that the expansion in the number of polling firms not owned by an avid Aquino supporter or an Aquino relative “will enhance not only the credibility of the science of polling in the country but would also allow for a better flow of information to the voting public on the agenda and platforms of the candidates.”

So is it a case of an Aquino-Inc-owned polling firm interpreted by an Aquino-Inc media outlet leading to an Aquino-Inc-led administration?

Are you going to allow this to happen? Please, don’t let the Kamag-anak Inc continue their rule over the Philippines.