CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Officials of two leading universities here have denied conducting a pre-election survey that purportedly show the edge of some candidates in select areas in the First District of Pampanga.
A top official of Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU), who requested anonymity, said in an interview that they “categorically deny the conduct of any election survey that show the advantage of one candidate over the other.”
The official was reacting to published reports that DHVSU students conducted “pre-poll survey” for congressman of First District of Pampanga, Governor of Pampanga, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilors of Mabalacat City.
The survey claims that re-electionist Congressman Jonjon Lazatin garnered 64 percent of votes while opponent Yeng Guiao got 26 percent. For Mabalacat City, it states that incumbent Mayor Cris Garbo is behind Christian Halili, with 41 and 57 percent, respectively. For the vice mayoralty race, Boking is ahead with 65 percent while his opponent lagged behind at 33 percent.
The university official said that they do not want to be branded to be leaning towards any candidate, stating “we are apolitical and will never engage in any survey because the institution is state-owned.”
Asked for comments, the office of Mayor Crisostomo Garbo has also assailed the controversial survey that prompted them to check the veracity of the survey with officials of universities mentioned in the news report.
Dillon Dio M. Eroles, officer-in-charge at the Mabalacat City Information Office said that University of the Assumption (UA) officials, particularly its Research and Planning Office, has denied conduct of any survey by either the university or any of its students.
A check also on the FB page of the UA Central University Student Council yielded negative on any election-related survey results as the students are on “sign off” mode due to summer vacation.
Eroles said that surveys conducted by third party groups showed that Garbo and Aquino are leading by a wide margin over the Halili-Morales tandem. He did not give details on the survey. –Marna Del Rosario