WATCH: Comelec attributes high voter turnout to debates, quality of candidates

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres “Andy” Bautista on Tuesday attributed the historic higher voter turnout to the Comelec –led debates and the quality of candidates.

 “In terms of voter turnout, to be honest though, we didn’t do anything special. I think that the high voter turnout can be attributed to two things one is we did an education and information campaign,” Bautista explained.

“One thing which we did differently this year as opposed to the previous elections was the presidential debates,” he cited.

Bautista said the presidential debates were strategically held in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to make the elections more “participative.”

“We made sure that the debates were not held in the capital. We brought it out to the main islands,” Bautista said.

The poll body chief also recognized their partnership with Philippine broadcast, radio, and print organizations to make its debates successful, citing that public-private partnership helps as these sectors have more resources and greater experience.

Bautista said the quality of the candidates also helped as they had many choices. He likened the choices of bets to a buffet.

“But the other thing was the quality of the candidates… We had choices and different kind of choices,” he said.

Text by Rosette Adel; Video by Efigenio Toledo IV