SO WHOM DO WE TRUST? | Beyond Duterte: SWS vs Pulse confuses Netizens

October 13, 2017 - 9:40 PM
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President Duterte reads his computer screen at the joint command conference of the AFP and PNP at Malacañang, Oct. 3, 2017. PCOO PHOTO BY MARCELINO PASCUA

MANILA – Pulse Asia made the Twitter trends on Friday after the polling firm reported that President Rodrigo Duterte enjoyed the trust and approval of 80 percent of Filipinos as of September – in contrast to the results of the Social Weather Survey’s recent poll which showed an 18-point decline in Duterte’s net satisfaction rating and a 15-point decline in his net trust rating between June and September.

Some Twitter users like @trickvalentin were confused about the discordant findings, and demanded an explanation.

@ClydeJayvy also asked, “So, there’s a huge (disturbing) difference between the SWS and Pulse Asia survey. The question is, which firm was used for propaganda?”

@kipoebanda had this response: “Bat shookt ang mga tao na iba ang result ng Pulse Asia at SWS? Umm sa statistics, pwede pong magkaiba ang result pero valid pareho. K (Why are people shocked that Pulse Asia and SWS have different results? Umm, in statistics, there can be different results but both can still be valid. Okay)?”

@tr1pnautic had this take on the matter: “Actually, kahit lumabas ‘yung Pulse Asia survey, nauna ‘yung SWS. ‘Yun ang balita. Pinagmukha niyo lang damage control ‘yung isa (Actually, even if the Pulse Asia survey came out, the SWS was still first. That’s the news. You just made the other one look like damage control).”

@sweeeigh also weighed in on the issue: “If two surveys have way different results, then there must be sampling bias. We don’t know for sure who between SWS and Pulse Asia committed it.”

Some Twitter users wondered whether SWS or Pulse Asia was more trustworthy than the other.

@Jericoseph agreed: “Ang tanong, sino ba mas credible at hindi biased? Ako Pulse ako (The question is, who is more credible and not biased? I’m for Pulse).”

@KhayriWoulfeFP commented, “Anong panama ng SWS sa Forbes at Pulse Asia (How can SWS compare to Forbes and Pulse Asia)?”

@monsterDAN88 said, “The Pulse Asia survey is more believable.”

This was @lesterrific_’s suggestion: “Since Pulse Asia and SWS came out with different result, can we conduct a survey with regards to their trust rating?”

Some of the President’s supporters questioned whether SWS was influenced by the opposition. There were also Twitter users who lauded Pulse Asia for the results.

@CeliaAsico wrote, “Of course, President Duterte’s ratings are high, he works extremely well for the good of his people.”

She added, “This will infuriate the bitter opposition to the max. Live with it.”

But @ItsMeAllan07 had this to say: “Pulse Asia result is so unrealistic. Only a (Duterte supporter) will rejoice and accept it blindly. Like seriously, let’s use our heads.”