By Leslie Ann Aquino  An official of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said surveys are not the best guide to who you should vote for. COMELEC Spokesman James Jimenez
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN( In an interview, Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez explained that surveys offer only a snapshot of a candidate’s popularity. "It does not reveal anything substantial about the candidate’s qualifications, character, or potential as an elected government official,” he said. “In a very real sense, choosing a candidate on the basis of survey ranking alone is indistinguishable from judging a book by its cover,” added Jimenez. The poll official reminded voters that there are better ways of choosing candidates. “Clearly, there are better ways of selecting leadership: proven track record, stated positions (or the lack thereof) on critical issues, the voter’s personal knowledge,” Jimenez said. “These and other inputs to the voters’ decision making process should not be ignored, simply because it is so much easier to just jump on the bandwagon,” he added. Earlier, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has discouraged the faithful from using pre-election surveys when choosing their candidates in the May 13 midterm polls. "Voters should not allow surveys to sway them from voting for the best and right candidates to choosing the ‘winnable’ ones,” CBCP Public Affairs Committee Executive Secretary Fr Jerome Secillano said in an interview. “Voters should vote for candidates based on abilities and their stand on issues and not on their association with any popular leader,” he added.