Bacolod City College Administrator Johanna Bayoneta yesterday denied commissioning a survey in the school with students as surveyors, and said there was never a survey conducted in relation to any partisan political activity at the BCC.

She also said they are in the peak of enrollment at the BCC Taculing, Fortune Town, Sum-ag campuses and could not have engaged in such activity.

Bayoneta was reacting to a recent survey result showing Mayor Evelio Leonardia, former Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella and former Vice Mayor Renecito Novero leading in the congressional, mayoralty and vice mayoralty race, respectively.

A press statement released to the media said the survey was reportedly conducted by selected junior and senior students of BCC.

It also said the political survey published on November 15 in a local daily was not conducted by Vox Populi Research Center in Manila but was done by the students as requested by their college administrator.

Bayoneta said the BCC only surveys the performance of its teachers.

"We conduct this survey twice a year towards the end of the semester, using stratified random sampling with our students as respondents,” she said.

They do not engage in partisan political surveys, Bayoneta stressed. The public will know the truth when the results of the election are released, she added.

Last year they conducted a survey in relation to their evaluation of the performance of their security guards but have never done a political survey, she added.

Asked for his reaction, Leonardia said he is glad that the BCC administrator has denied that there was such a survey, and that, in the first place, it is clear to the BCC that they must be apolitical. They are not supposed to go into activities like this, he said.

Leonardia said he will ask the BCC administrator to issue a memorandum to students not to engage in such activities.

This is another classic example of how things are being manipulated by some politicians to suit their agenda, he said.

I wish to advise the public not to take these surveys seriously. After all, they will be the ones who will choose the candidates they believe to be credible,” Leonardia said.

But we cannot stop people who want to fool themselves, he also said.

Sayson, meanwhile, said anybody can just make this kind of survey. Since this was denied by the BCC administrator, it is clear that this has been manipulated by some people, he said.

Sayson said they filed their certificates of candidacy only last October and the campaign period has not even started yet. “So I believe having a survey at this time is very premature,” he added.*CGS

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