Make your own surveys; ‘Imeldific’ is now a word

There are those who distrust paid surveys especially those owned by the Aquino-Cojuangco family. As far as surveys are concerned, those published by mainstream newspapers come from SWS and Pulse Asia. Disgusting. We know they are a business more than genuine research. Indeed I am told that a down payment is made and the rest is paid after the work is done. Of course with the down payments come the condition that the result would be what was paid for and questions asked would elicit the desired answers.

But of late with Duterte’s ascendancy as the leading presidential candidate, such tricks are no longer feasible and hardly compatible with the overwhelming crowds in his assemblies.  But there are others who still want to know from where his phenomenal popularity comes. How to do that? Do it yourself. And that has been what is happening. Individuals are doing surveys on their own.  They just ask, Sino po ang inyong kandidato para presidente sa eleksiyon sa Mayo? Si Duterte po.  You certainly can count that if you ask everyone whom you get in contact with. You will get a result, a survey you are not being paid to do. It is for your own information. If crowds drawn to his assemblies and your own individual survey match, then you have done your duty as an informed citizen.

BayanKo’s adviser Jose Alejandrino when asked how could he be so sure Duterte is winning, answered:

“I don’t arrive at definite conclusions based on surveys of 1,800 respondents as SWS and Pulse Asia do. My analysis is based on multiple surveys, both online and offline, that have a much wider coverage and apply different methodology to validate results. If the different methodologies arrive at the same results, bingo! They are supplemented by other means too long to explain here.

“What I look for are patterns and trends that tell a story. When most students in various colleges in a region vote for the same candidate, that is a pattern. What is a trend? When most students in various regions vote consistently for the same candidate, that is a trend. The trend tells me most students all over the country like that candidate.”

“I estimate for Rodrigo Duterte to win he will need 14 million votes out of the 34 million I expect will turn out to vote this coming May elections. The 34 million represent 65 percent of the 52 million registered voters and is the average turnout in past elections.

“I have analyzed all the online and non-paid offline surveys at my disposal, including the nine independent surveys taken in 2015 covering 54,000 respondents in four regions including Metro Manila, and made my calculations based on their findings on the number of votes Rodrigo Duterte can obtain by three main groups of voters. I wish to emphasize these are my own estimates and nobody else’s.

“The three main groups are (1) college students and their family, (2) OFWs, and (3) workers – these are transport and tricycle drivers, sales personnel, office workers, security guards, etc.

“My estimates are in group 1, Duterte can get a high of five million to a low of four million votes out of a total of 7.5 million.

“In group 2, he can get a high of 2.4 million and a low of two million out of a total of four million.

“In group 3, he can get a high of nine million and a low of 7.5 million out of a total of 15 million.

“Taking the three groups together, he can get a high of 16.4 million and a low of 13.5 million. Assuming the lower figure, Duterte falls short only of half a million votes to get the 14 million I estimate he needs to clinch the presidency in a fair and free election. On the other hand, between the high and the low figures, he may already have enough to win.

“None of the other presidential candidates come anywhere close to Duterte’s figures.”

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MISCELLANY: A dividing factor among Filipinos is the lack of a lingua franca. That came from our colonization. It is time to develop a means of communication using Pilipino as the lingua franca. It is defined as “A medium of communication between peoples of different languages” this could be Pilipino and the other dialects.”

I might add that the book “The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos” is now available as “Ang Natatagong Buhay ni Imelda Marcos.” It is published by Flipside Publishing Co. as an e-book.

Did you know that there is a wine named after a Filipino revolutionary hero? This wine labelled Alejandrino I was named after Gen. Jose Alejandrino who fought with Heneral Luna in the war of independence against the Americans.

The wine will be widely available here.  It is produced in Spain in the best wine-growing area of Valdepenas.

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With my third book Imelda Marcos: The Verdict about to be launched, book distributors should place their orders soon. It will be available both as a hard book and an e-book. It covers Imelda’s trial in New York. I was the government spokesman during the trial. My daughter Veronica Pedrosa of Al Jazeera and I were invited to comment on stage at the National Theater in London on the historical background of Imelda’s Rise and Fall. 

The musical was produced by David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim. In an interview, David Byrne tells why he produced the musical:

“I set to work reading about Imelda’s life and times, to see whether there was a story beyond the shoes and the rise and fall of a glamorous and very public dictator’s wife. I knew right away that, despite my misgivings about Madame Marcos, I had to find a way to understand what made her tick. And to do that, one had to empathize with her – at least for a while.

 “The first story I latched on to was that of the relationship between Imelda and Estrella, her former maid and best friend, as detailed in a biography by Carmen Pedrosa. Estrella, I imagined, could function as a foil; illuminating Imelda’s denial of her own relatively poor childhood, as well as serving as a victim when Imelda turned to the dark side after martial law was declared in the Philippines.

“Aged 85, Imelda still lives in Manila, serving a second term as a congresswoman for Leyte.

 “Marcos once said: “I was born ostentatious. They’ll list my name in the dictionary someday. They’ll use Imeldific to mean ostentatious extravagance.”