MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chairman George Garcia has called the viral incident of a pageant contestant admitting unfamiliarity with the agency’s role a wake-up call to improve voter education among Filipino youth.

In a recent “It’s Showtime” episode, “Sexy Babe” segment contestant Heart Aquino became a hot topic online after telling the noontime program’s hosts about her “limited” knowledge about the poll body and being an unregistered voter during a Q&A portion.

In his exclusive interview with The STAR’s editor-in-chief Amy Pamintuan on “Truth On The Line,” Garcia described the incident as “unfortunate” but also noted the “positive side” to it, seeing it as an opportunity to reassess and strengthen voters’ education efforts.

“Nakakalungkot ‘yung insidenteng ‘yan. Pero bagama’t nakakalungkot, tinitignan nalang natin ‘to on the positive side,” he said. “The positive side dun ay baka meron tayong natapilok na isang problema na maaaring alam na ng lahat pero hindi nabubulgar.”

(“That incident is unfortunate. But even though it’s saddening, we choose to look at the positive side. The positive side is that we may have stumbled upon a problem that everyone might already be aware of but has not been openly discussed.”)

He suggested that the incident might have exposed an underlying issue — whether today’s youth are becoming less engaged in socio-political matters or if only certain groups remain actively aware of national concerns, particularly those related to the elections.

“Maaaring ang hindi pagkilala at pagkakaalam sa COMELEC ay repleksyon (The lack of awareness about COMELEC could be a reflection),” Garcia said.

“Yan po nangangahulugan lang na dapat i-doble namin ang aming efforts sa ating voters’ education. Baka nga medyo may kulang o kaya naman sumasablay o kaya naman mali ang approach na gusto natin mangyari. (This simply means that we need to double our efforts in voter education. Maybe there are gaps, shortcomings, or even flaws in the approach we’ve been using).”

He also pointed out that many young people are more inclined to engage with entertaining content on social media platforms rather than consume news from trusted sources or follow election-related discussions. However, he also noted that those with political awareness tend to stay informed.

Upon looking into the contestant’s background, Garcia noted that socioeconomic factors may also play a role in young people’s lack of awareness about national issues, considering that she had lost both parents and is currently the breadwinner of her remaining family.

“Ibig sabihin siguro nga ‘pag nagtatrabaho ‘yung isang kabataan, baka sa halip na nagpo-focus dun sa mga ibang problema ng bayan, doon nalang s’ya nag-fo-focus sa sarili n’yang problema. Maraming ganyan na kabataan (This probably means that when a young person is working, instead of focusing on the country’s problems, they tend to focus on their own. There are many young people like that),” he explained.

Given this, Garcia urged to “refocus and reexamine our voters’ education program,” stating that efforts should not only target students but also out-of-school youth and young workers who may not actively engage with political discussions.

Aquino, who had earlier visited the COMELEC main office, explained that she had a “mental block” during the live segment but clarified that she had some knowledge of the agency’s role. She also urged netizens to stop the bashing while encouraging fellow young people to learn about the electoral process and vote wisely.

She also expressed openness to using her platform — or even becoming a COMELEC ambassador — to promote voter awareness.