IF ONLY majority of the voters elect those who are the deserving and not selling their votes, our country is better off than what it is today. Let’s not kid ourselves, a candidate should raised enough money to finance a campaign. And on the last few days there will be a wholesale purchase of votes. How sad but true. How much per vote in today’s setting? It can start from a thousand pesos and can come up high to three thousand pesos. The willing victims mostly are those coming from the marginalized sector.
You may comment that there’s the Commission on Elections’ ruling on overspending. Frankly Virginia everyone, then and now, never followed the set expenses for candidates. Why? Because it is not practical. If a candidate will strictly adhere to Comelec rules he may wind up on the losing end. Examples: In a local campaign a candidate should only spend three pesos per voter. Pampanga towns mostly have more or less 80 thousand voters. If you multiply that by three that will only be 240 thousand pesos in the whole of the campaign period. A mayoral candidate and anyone vying for a one on one position can’t last even on a P5 million budget.
At this point, most candidates are already digging on their pockets and some groups are already knocking on their doors. Those who are in the 2019 race are already known to the public and they are now fair games. In the early years elections were held in November and a candidate can file his certificate of candidacy on the last hour. Today eight months of exposure as a candidate will really hurt your finances.
Retro: In the early years, a candidate should have a brilliant mind and must be a powerful speaker to gain a seat in the House of Representatives even penniless. Also in those years the Philippine National Railways (PNR) railroad track served as the demarcation line marking the separation of the two congressional districts in the province of Pampanga. Now we have four. Jonjon Lazatin in first, Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, second, Dong Gonzales, third and Rimpy Bondoc, fourth. Too bad our representation will be a loss because GMA will make her exit after finishing her last and final term.
Like GMA, they were Pampanga's pride. In the rolls of the earlier congress, the congressmen sent in the lower house were no bench warmers. Some of the names will include Jose Fausto of Sta. Ana, Eligio Lagman of Guagua, Luis Taruc of San Luis, Amado Yuzon of Guagua and Diosdado Macapagal of Lubao. They brought honor to the province.
Tidbits: It seems the election fever is heating up in San Simon. A vice mayoral aspirant’s House was riddled with bullets... Many people in the City of San Fernando are applauding Barangay Captain Vilma Caluag for standing up against incumbent Mayor Edwin Santiago. Now the electorates of the city are given a choice and Caluag is a better option, according to many. ‘It will take a housewife to clean a dirty and unkept community and put all things in order.’ It’s a comment coming from a resident whom I met in a wedding party recently.... In Sto. Tomas town the Ronquillo’s, Naguits and Arceos banded together vs. incumbent Mayor John Sambo. However, Sambo is dependent on the support of Congressman Rimpy Bondoc.