December 29, 1985
 Mr. & Ms. Special Edition
Dear Editor:

Dr. Solita Monsod interprets the "Don’t know" responses in the Philippine Social Science Council’s (PSSC) survey as meaning: (1) "won’t tell," i.e., afraid to say, (2) "cannot tell," i.e., honestly don’t know. (3) "don’t care." or (4) "it won’t matter anyway" (Special Edition, Dec. 27).

As public high school teacher who was among the PSSC respondents, I want Dr. Monsod to know that "don’t know" answer doesn’t mean any of the four things she calms it means. When I said, "I don’t know," I really meant "I don't know" since I had given no thought to how I would vote if President Marcos were running against this or that oppositionist.

I just want to remind Dr. Monsod that the majority of our people, like me, lead lives of quiet desperation, wondering where the next meal is coming from. People like us (who are merely data-gathering points for the high-powered researchers in the PSSC) have very short time-horizons. The question of who to vote for in some future election, being of little immediate interest, simply is not worth thinking about.

Dr. Monsod argues Mt. Marcos "has a fantastic propaganda machine" and concludes that "the respondent cannot possibly be uninformed." I am scandalized that Dr. Monsod equates Minister Gregorio Cendana’s activities with the public’s "not being uninformed." Pro-Marcos propaganda may be all over the place; it doesn’t follow that we believe it. And even if we did, it would mean that we were misinformed at best, deceived at worst.

Neither may Dr. Monsod cite the level of participation in the last elections and conclude that the people "do care." Under the law, people who do not register or vote are fined P100. This may be a piddling amount to Dr. Monsod but not to the majority of our people. Many of us sell our vote for that very amount since we desperately need the money. And a lot of us vote so we can repay past favors (and lay claim to future ones) provided by politicians or superiors backing one or the other candidate.

Dr. Monsod and her generously-paid colleague in the PSSC (especially those claiming to be "activist" or "committed" researchers) should first try to survive for a year on the incomes of the respondents they classify as "poor" before pontificating on what their answers might mean.

CARLOTA SALVADOR