Comelec to voters: Don't vote based on popularity

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reminded voters not to vote for candidates based on their popularity.

Eleven days before the midterm polls, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia told voters to "vote wisely" and check the background of their preferred candidates first.

"Pero syempre pinag-iisipan mabuti kung sino ang hinahalal. Hindi porket sikat sa social media, sa TV, sa radyo, sa radyo, sila na ang binoboto natin (But of course, we should think carefully about who we elect. It's not about being popular on social media, on TV, on the radio, in the newspaper, we would automatically vote for them)," Garcia told reporters during a voters' education session in La Carlota, Negros Occidental.

"Dapat inaalam nating mabuti ang background, sino ba ang iboboto natin sapagkat kinabukasan natin ang nakataya diyan, hindi pwedeng hula-hulaan ang ating pagboto (We must know their background well, who they are, who we will vote for, because our future is at stake. We cannot just gamble our votes)," he added.

Garcia also reminded voters to take a picture of their ballots while casting their votes, as well as the receipt when the ballot falls into the machine itself.

"Mag-picture mismo ng image ng balota na makikita natin sa screen ng mismong makina. Bawal ilabas ang resibo sapagkat diyan pwede magamit ang vote-buying (Take a picture of the image of the ballot that you will see on the screen of the machine itself. It is forbidden to show the receipt because it can be used for vote-buying)," he added.

Garcia said any person found guilty of any election offense, including vote-buying and vote-selling, could be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years.