Prelate: Vote only for deserving bets

Too young to understand what is going on but still curious, a boy stands on tiptoe to look at the ballot his father is filling out inside one of the polling precincts at P. Burgos Elementary School in Sta. Mesa, Manila. KIMBERLY DELA CRUZ

It’s better to leave the ballot blank than vote for those who do not deserve to be elected.

This was the call of Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo as he urged Filipino people not to vote in the 2016 polls if there would be no worthy or deserving candidates.

“We should not settle for the less evil. If we can’t choose good candidates, it’s better not to vote at all,” said Pabillo, chair of the permanent committee on public affairs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, in an interview over the Church-run Radyo Veritas.

“Voters don’t have to totally fill out their ballots. Only those who deserve to be elected should be written there,” he added, stressing that the electorate should be picky when it comes to politics because people should choose candidates that the nation deserves.

Pabillo also urged the public not to be influenced by election surveys, calling these as “gimmicks.”

“Let’s not be swayed by surveys. Those are just gimmicks. We should look at the candidates’ traits,” he said.

He also said voters should look beyond the “winnability” of candidates.