House leader questions political surveys conducted by OCTA

House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza on Monday questioned the political surveys being conducted and released by the independent group OCTA Research.

"Ano po ang basis ninyo roon? Bakit kayo nangingialam sa pulitika kung kayo ay medical (What's your basis for those? Why are you meddling with politics)?" Atienza said during an inquiry being conducted by the House committee on good government and public accountability.

Aside from making projections about the COVID-19 pandemic, the OCTA Research has been releasing survey results in relation to the coming national elections.

Last month, OCTA Research released results of presidential and vice presidential polls topped by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and her father President Rodrigo Duterte, respectively.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Ranjit Rye explained that the group has two separate research components, one is its COVID-related research and the other one is its public opinion research.

"Sir, we are a research group which has two research components, one is dealing with COVID research, the other is dealing with public opinion research. In our public opinion research, we have been providing the public the outputs of our surveys since January po of this year. There's no problem with that..." Rye said.

He emphasized that public opinion research is important for the country's democracy, governance, and even in the battle against COVID-19.

Atienza, however, maintained that OCTA Research is not a political research group.

He also urged his colleagues in the chamber to file a resolution that will "not allow or at least condemning this malpractice of somebody positioning himself prominently in the face of a pandemic and projecting political developments in the country."

'Less commentary, less mistakes'

Meanwhile, committee chairman Michael Aglipay told OCTA Research to do away with commentaries or statements that could be misconstrued as the official policy of the government.

"Less commentary, less mistakes... let the public interpret the data with their analysis of the data because sabi nga, with great power comes great responsibility. Your group is already a powerful group," he said.

During the panel hearing, Aglipay mentioned the instance when OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David made a statement that seemed to contradict the Department of Health about the enhanced community quarantine enforced this August.

"You gave a commentary that you wish that the government escalated the implementation of the ECQ because it was too loose, you give a commentary. You step beyond the science, you step beyond the interpretation... you went already for the commentary, which this committee does not appreciate," Aglipay said.

Another fellow, Dr. Ranjit Rye, said they are not contradicting the statements being released by the national government.

"We just reiterate. There's no contradiction po, no contradiction po between what we said on that issue with the DOH," he said.

Still, Rye vowed that the OCTA Research would consider calibrating their means of communication with other government agencies when it comes to figures on COVID-19.

"We will take your suggestion and we will talk to our group, we will seriously consider calibrating our communications, especially with the DOH, among others," he said.

The inquiry into the group stemmed from House Resolution 2075, filed by Representatives Bernadette Herrera, Kristine Singson-Meehan, Sharon Garin, Stella Luz Quimbo, and Jesus “Bong” Suntay, calling for a probe in aid of legislation to ascertain the credentials and background of OCTA Research.—AOL, GMA News