Candy, Loads, Among New Forms of Vote Buying, Says PPCRV

Poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) observed on Monday’s barangay elections that if a voter won’t take cash for his vote, he can pass for a candy or a prepaid load and other novel forms of bribery.

PPCRV chairwoman Henrietta de Villa revealed “‘Yung iba namimigay ng candy na nakabalot sa pamphlet. ‘Yung iba naman nagpapamigay ng prepaid cellphone loads. Sa Bulacan, ‘yung ibang kandidato nagset-up ng voters’ assistance desk at doon nagpamigay ng pagkain.”

Gma news online reported on Monday said de Villa noted that old problems also persisted such as “flying voters.” “I witnessed this first hand. In my own precinct in Quezon City, a voter had his name on the PPCRV list, but not on the election day computerized voters’ list,” De Villa said.

De Villa added that her group also received reports from some voters whose names were used by someone else to cast votes. “‘Yung iba, nahanap nga ang pangalan pero may bumoto raw na iba gamit ang pangalan nila. May reports pa kami ng hakot na flying voters,” De Villa said.

The PPRCV said her group will consolidate all these reports and submit a summary to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Gma news online said.

“Dapat imbestigahan ito ng Comelec. Hindi naman ito mangyayari kung walang kinalaman ang election officers,” De Villa said.

De Villa said that although non-monetary forms of bribery were observed such as the candy, food, and load, some politicians, particularly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), stuck to tradition and distributed actual cash.

“Malawakan talaga itong vote-buying. Very rampant sa ibang lugar sa ARMM. Sa Tawi-Tawi, the vote-buying started the night before. Sa Bulacan, ang report ay P500 per voter basta bloc-voting, meaning they should vote for the entire slate,” she said.

De Villa suspects that some bigger political parties funded these vote-buying schemes, in preparation for the 2016 national elections.

“I will say openly that these are preparations for the 2016 elections. Maraming lugar na sinusuportahan ng partido ang mga kandidato ng barangay para coopted na nila pagdating ng 2016. Sila ang magiging promoters nila sa barangay. Sa basic unit of government, pumupwesto na sila,” she said.

Gma news online reported De Villa also noted poor voter turnout among persons with disabilities (PWDs) in areas designated by the Comelec.

“Dahil siguro sa shortness of time, hindi nagkaroon ng malawakang information campaign para sa ating PWDs. Sa designated malls, karamihan ng bumoto ay senior citizens. Kakaunti lang ang PWDs,” she said.

The PPCRV chairperson has said the Comelec should revert to the practice during the 2013 midterm polls of just designating an area for PWDs in public schools used as precincts, Gma news online reported.

“Mas maganda sana ito para malapit lang sa kanila. Hindi na sila tatanggalin sa kani-kanilang presinto. Hindi naman nagkaproblema last elections, so why reinvent the wheel?” De Villa said.

The Comelec introduced accessible polling places in malls for senior citizens and PWDs during this year’s barangay elections, in accordance with Republic Act 10633, Gma news online report said.

In this year’s barangay election, there are over 800,000 candidates who sought barangay posts, which was marred by incidents of strafing, shooting and ballot-snatching.

Source: Gma news online