The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said those opposing the nomination of certain personalities for party-list representative should just leave the decision to the people.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said they should leave the decision to the people whether they would still vote or not for a particular party-list group given their nominees.

“Let the people decide. Filipinos are smart. Let the people be the judge. They cannot go wrong when the people are the ones who judge,” he said.

The Comelec chairman issued the statement in view of the controversy created by the nomination of Pampanga Rep. Jose Miguel Mikey Arroyo as nominee of Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP), party-list group claiming to represent security guards.

Mikey Arroyo, incumbent representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga, is AGP’s number one nominee.

The problem with some people, Melo said, is sometimes they are personality-oriented.

“We’ll say the person is entering thru backdoor channels as a party-list nominee just because we don’t like the person and not because the person is not qualified,” he said.

But Melo said people can still challenge a certain personality nominated by a party-list group after the March 26 deadline for filing of nomination.