Be careful in reading too much on surveys.

House of Representatives Spokesperson Princess Abante had this to say in reaction to the recent Pulse Asia survey which indicated that 50 percent of Filipinos opposed the filing of an impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

In a chance interview with House reporters Tuesday afternoon, May 27, Abante cited the possibility of a disconnect between survey results and he actual pulse of Filipinos.

The lawyer cited as an example the popularity polls on "senatoriables" in the lead up to the May 12 mid-term elections. The results of the actual elections showed that a lot of the surveys missed the mark.

"I would be very careful in reading too much right now on the surveys," Abante said.

"Siguro kung meron tayo natutunan ngayong eleksyon ay hindi naging tugma ang mga naging datos ng mga survey prior to elections doon sa actual na resulta (Perhaps one of the lessons we’ve learned from this election is that the survey data prior to the elections did not match the actual results)," she said.

"May mga nakita tayong consistent na nasa winning circle sa surveys all throughout the campaign period na hindi natin nakitang nagtagumpay (We saw candidates who consistently appeared in the winning circle of surveys throughout the campaign period but ultimately did not succeed)," she noted.

The House mouthpiece said that there were "surprise victors" in the elections who didn't make waves in the surveys.

"We need to understand not just ano ‘yung pakiramdam ng mamamayan ayon sa survey pero mas kailangan bumaba tayo sa tao para mas maintindihan ano ‘yung talagang totoong pangangailangan nila,” Abante said.

(We need to understand not just how the people feel based on surveys, but we must go directly to them to truly grasp their real needs.)

The House of Representatives impeached Vice President Duterte last Feb. 5 on the strength of 215 solon-signatories. She is the first Vice President to be impeached in the country’s history. 

The seven articles of impeachment against Duterte are as follows:

Article 1: Conspiracy to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez; 

Article 2: Malversation of P612.5 million in confidential funds;

Article 3: Bribery and corruption in Department of Education (DepEd);

Article 4: Unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets; 

Article 5: Involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJK);

Article 6: Destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder; and

Article 7: The totality of respondent's conduct as Vice President.