Thursday, May 17, 2007 Fear keeps vote-buying alive: observers
AFTER observing the elections in different towns in Cebu for past three days, foreign observers noted that poverty and the culture of fear among Filipinos are two obstacles to holding clean and honest elections.
“Mahadlok man sila mo complain (They are afraid to complain),” said Rev. Rey Gelloagan, team leader of the Cebu delegation of the International Observers’ Mission (IOM).
In a press conference in Cebu City yesterday, he said there are witnesses to rampant vote-buying in Toledo City and the towns of Balamban, Aloguinsan and Cordova but they are afraid to file a complaint and be identified.
Hearsay
“Without any sworn affidavit, the alleged vote-buying by different politicians and parties will only fall as hearsay,” Gelloagan said.
Gelloagan mentioned that in Barangay Bakyawan in Tuburan town, they encountered elderly women who wanted to vote not because they want to participate in the electoral process, but because they were promised money by some candidates.
In Balamban, the group also saw elderly people huddled together, dividing the amount they got from a candidate.
Minerva Gutierrez, an observer from Quebec, Canada, believes social differences and poverty lead people to fraudulent practices during elections.
“I think this is not a culture of the poor people... Poverty makes the process of democracy very hard, because people need money and the rich people maintain this situation,” she said.
Fr. Art Calaycay, a Filipino-American observer, also believed that vote-buying occurs because of poverty.
He said the lack of political will and the lack of willingness on the part of the government to alleviate poverty aggravate the situation.
Emily Cahilog, international relations officer for the women’s group Gabriela, said some voters accept money in exchange for their votes not because they are not informed or are unaware, but simply because they need the money.
She lamented that nothing much has changed since the last election.
Irregularities
“Buying votes, some people say that it is normal in the Filipino culture. But this is not what I call democracy,” said Gutierrez.
Apart from the allegedly rampant vote-buying, disorganized and congested polling precincts, the Cebu delegation of the IOM also observed irregularities in the canvassing of votes.
The press conference concluded IOM’s three-day mission to observe the conduct of elections in Tuburan, Asturias, Balamban, Aloguinsan, Cordova and Toledo City.
The Cebu delegation will consolidate their observations with nine other IOM teams to come up with an extensive report on the elections in the Philippines. They expect to complete the final report on May 18. (Andrea S. Pineda, UP Mass Comm Intern)
