Misleading

A Facebook (FB) post claimed voters preferred incumbent Caloocan Mayor Dale “Along” Malapitan over opponent former senator Antonio Trillanes IV. This is misleading. The numbers cited refer to the candidates’ trust ratings, not voter preference.

A reader sent a request to VERA Files’ Messenger Misinformation Tipline to verify a March 2 FB post by a blogger. It contained an infographic with a header that read:

“2025 ELECTION

MAYORAL PREFERENCE

CALOOCAN CITY MAYORAL RACE TRUST RATING

SOURCE: SOCIAL WEATHER STATION”

The image contained a column with the header “Voter Preference.” It ranked Malapitan first with a rating of +75%, while Trillanes was second with a “voter preference” of -22%. No other mayoralty candidate was included in the ranking.

Social Weather Stations (SWS) confirmed on Feb. 28 the results of a commissioned survey on public trust in selected personalities in Caloocan City for February 2025. However, the numbers in the infographic refer to trust rating in the mayoralty candidates, not voter preference.

Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.

VERA Files is a nonstock, nonprofit independent media organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Company Registration No. CN200808072). Founded in March 2008, it is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”

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