Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia urged the residents of Maguindanao to exercise their right to vote in the forthcoming plebiscite in the province.
"We call on Maguindanaoans, go out and vote. This is for your future, not ours, not for just one person," he said during the Maguindanao Plebiscite Coordinating Conference held this week in Cotabato City.
The poll chief expressed hope that the high voter turnout last May would be replicated in the Sept. 17 Maguindanao plebiscite.
"If the voter turnout was 85 percent in Maguindanao during the May 2022 elections... we hope that we will have 80 percent or more than 80 percent (for the plebiscite)," Garcia said.
"If you want to be split into two provinces, we will respect that. If you want to stay as a single province, we will also respect that. What is important is that your voices are heard," he added.
Garcia also rallied all plebiscite stakeholders in Maguindanao to work together to ensure that all registered voters will be able to cast their votes.
"It is not enough that the 'yes' or the 'no' wins. We should be more concerned on is ensuring that people will be able to vote. Always, sovereignity resides in the people," he said.
The Maguindanao plebiscite will determine whether or not the province will be divided into two Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.