Bea Allyson Alimangohan and Adi Joaquim Tolentino

Camarines Sur Representative Luis Raymund “Lray” Villafuerte accused the official student publication of Administration of Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC), The SPARK, of being ‘biased’ in favor of Bong Rodriguez, his opposing candidate for governor in the mock gubernatorial election results released on February 7.

Photo Courtesy of Facebook/Lray Villafuerte/The SPARK.

The survey, conducted by The SPARK from December 1 to 7, 2024, revealed that Rodriguez led the gubernatorial race with 43 percent of the votes, while Villafuerte garnered 30 percent.

#Halalan2025 | 𝗥𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘇 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗦𝗣𝗖𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀; 𝟮𝟲% 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝘁


Villafuerte called it ‘fake’ as the results were revealed two months after the survey was done, implying they may have been ‘altered’ the data and aligned it with Rodriguez’s side.

“Mabuti talaga nag labas ng fake survey etong the spark. Luminaw sino mga nanloloko nag papa labas ng fake news at fake survey results!,” Villafuerte captioned in his Facebook post.

He also criticized The SPARK’s associate editor, Fernan Matthew Enimendez, whom he labeled as 'pitiful' for being manipulated by the propaganda, which he attributes to 'not genuinely loving the CSPC'.

Villafuerte further argued that The SPARK was ‘biased,’ pointing out that the publication did not mention the contributions of the Villafuerte family to CSPC, including infrastructure projects and their support for school activities such as the Ulayaw Festival.

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Posted by Lray Villafuerte on Friday, February 7, 2025

“Halatang biased at may kinikilingan at kinakampihan eto si Fernan Matthew at ang the spark publication dahil mismo mga tulong ng pamilya Villafuerte sa CSPC ay never…pig mention man Lang!” Villafuerte included in the post.

In response to the backlash, the CSPC administration released an official statement distancing itself from the survey, clarifying that it was an independent initiative by The SPARK and not an official undertaking of the institution. The administration emphasized that the survey results "are neither comprehensive nor reflective of the sentiments of the entire student body."

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Posted by Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges on Friday, February 7, 2025

The publication stated that the survey was conducted independently through Google Forms, accessible only to CSPC students, with 498 respondents.

“Nasaan resulta ng survey nila sa 5th district? Dinudoktor pa ba—karamihan ng students hinde active o gumagamit email,” Villafuerte disputed.

However, the validity of the poll was defended through a Facebook post by Jericho Dagami, a licensed civil engineer and former Editor-in-Chief at The SPARK, who cited Slovin’s Formula to determine the required sample size.

According to Dagami, a population of 14,000 students would require at least 389 respondents for a 95 percent confidence level, with a 5 percent margin of error in which SPARK’s survey exceeded the threshold, making the sample size statistically acceptable.

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The SPARK Editorial Board released an official statement defending the integrity of the survey as the results were presented as they were, without manipulation or external intervention.

“Results were presented as it is without manipulation. The mock election was done without bias and intervention from any external persona,” The SPARK stated on a Facebook post.

Several student organizations have voiced out support, urging the administration to uphold independence and protect student journalists, and have sparked discussions about press freedom and political influence in academic institutions.