ANGELES CITY -- Holy Angel University (HAU) said Thursday it has no knowledge of a presidential survey conducted by a group of AB Communication Arts students in Porac town.
Assistant Vice President for Student Services and Affairs Robert Tantingco said the survey, which appeared on March 3 issue of this paper was “not official” and was not known to the dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education (Cased).
“The university does not conduct surveys outside of the vicinity of the campus. Our surveys are conducted inside the school and are handled professionally. We only release official results through the proper channels,” Tantingco told this paper’s reporter Thursday.
Tantingco said the school tries to maintain enough "professional distance" from politicians and political issues.
Tantingco, however, did not rule out that the alleged survey may have been conducted as part of a classroom exercise.
“If it was conducted by students, it is for academic purposes only and not for release to the media. Such survey does not represent the college, the student body or the university,” Tantingco said, stressing that sources of such surveys should be verified to prevent any wrong attribution of survey results.
It could be recalled that the said survey was conducted among 600 respondents from Porac town.
The National Statistical Coordination Board, however, placed the number of voters in the town at 51,816 out of the total 100,345 population as of last year.
The survey alleged that it covered Porac’s 29 barangays. The method used was random sampling with three percent plus and minus margin of error.
In the said survey, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar topped the survey along with other local candidates of the town.
A couple of AB Communication Arts Students interviewed by Sun.Star Pampanga denied ever conducting political surveys in Porac. (Ian Ocampo Flora)