The TU has filed a complaint before the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) based in US for SWS’ alleged "mercenary work" for the Genuine Opposition (GO).
The TU accused SWS of "engaging in unscrupulous trending practices and blatant partisanship in favor of the political opposition."
In a single-page letter to WAPOR general secretary Dr. Allan McCutcheon, the TU said the SWS had been doing "mercenary work for the political opposition, caused the publication (in the guise of voter preference) of tainted surveys that showed the non-existent and entirely fictional preference of Filipino voters" for GO candidates.
Meanwhile, after being criticized for its allegedly biased questions in a recent survey commissioned by the GO, the SWS said the survey also tested for 10 strengths of the Arroyo administration.
"Due to the continued repetition in media of seven agree-disagree items used in an SWS survey to test public opinion about alleged weaknesses of the Arroyo administration, SWS believes it serves a purpose to point out that the following 10 agree-disagree items were used in the same survey to test about alleged strengths of the Arroyo administration," the pollster said.
The SWS said the questionnaire items and the survey findings were published in its website, www.sws.org.ph, on April 30 with the title "SWS Survey for Sen. Sergio Osmeña III."
The survey respondents were free to either affirm or deny any agree-disagree item, whether pertaining to an alleged strength or an alleged weakness.
According to the SWS, even if a questionnaire focuses entirely on strengths or entirely on weaknesses, it does not follow that the survey is biased only to favorable or only to unfavorable conclusions.
"In fact, however, the SWS survey commissioned by… Osmeña included more tests about strengths than about weaknesses of the Arroyo administration," the SWS said.
The respondents were asked whether, under the current administration, they believe "that the future of Filipinos will be brighter," "my welfare became better," "the quality of education improved," "the future of Filipino children became bright," and "the number of families who are hungry decreased in my locality."
The survey went on to ask respondents whether, under the current administration, "the number of those unemployed declined in my locality," "corruption decreased," "human rights of Filipinos became more protected," "the number of crimes decreased in my locality," and "the morality of government officials improved."