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.
Malapitan retained his net trust rating from the last SWS survey conducted in October 2024. Meanwhile, Trillanes’ net trust rating sank from -10% in October 2024 to -22% in February 2025.
In the October 2024 SWS survey, 81% of respondents expressed preference for Malapitan as Caloocan City mayor. Trillanes came in second with a voter preference of 15%.
Both surveys were commissioned by a certain Salvador Policarpio.
The post by Joie De Vivre came a week after Trillanes filed a supplemental affidavit before the Department of Justice to bolster anti-drug smuggling charges he filed in 2017 against Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, lawyer Manases Carpio and former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon. Trillanes is a known critic of the Duterte family.
The FB post has garnered over 6,900 reactions, 1,300 comments and 293 shares.
