How to vote WISELY?

I came across a couple of blogs the other day. They are all linked to by http://www.getrealphilippines.net/. They seem to be a bunch of out of the box thinkers. Some of what they say might be painful to hear but they make sense. Reading the postings on the different blogs, I've come to realise a few things which I will rant about in this and my next posts.

Ever since I can remember, people have always asked us to vote wisely but I can't, for the life of me, remember if voting wisely was taught in elementary or high school. I remember during high school, we had student elections for the members of the student council. I remember voting for the party that had the most catchy jingle and slogan. I paid very little attention to plans or platforms. I know now that what I did was wrong. Which leads to the quesion of:

How to evaluate candidates properly?
The answer can be summarized in the following comic strip taken from one of the above mentioned blog:

They should be teaching this in high school. The students should go thru the exercise of evaluating candidates every year even if they are not yet allowed to vote. They should also be made aware of the current situations and issues, the current position of our government as well as the actions being undertaken and their status.

Maybe we can start a sustained drive for voter education aimed at high school students manned by volunteers and funded by grants and donations.

Thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcome.