I’VE heard about candidates buying votes. I mean, who hasn’t, right? Apparently, the practice is so ingrained in the Filipino voters’ psyche, they can’t imagine an election without it.
Vote buying is rampant, especially in the provinces. At least, that’s what they say.
I have friends who swear by it. They say some candidates shell out as much as P2,500, even more, per voter. Of course, this can only happen in communities where the voting population is small. Otherwise, candidates end up going bankrupt.
Here in the metro, I heard the amount is more modest.
Mind you, no one has ever given me money for my vote. Now, if some of you plan to buy me before the election on May 13, don’t bother.
I’m not saying I won’t accept. And I’m not saying I will. I’m just not registered. So there’s really no point in discussing it, is there?
Here in Cebu City, the going rate is reportedly P1,000.
I mean, that’s what the Facebook post of “Tomas Hari sa Sugbo” is saying.
To those who don’t know, and I didn’t until I read it in the SunStar Cebu website, the page was allegedly created by critics of Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who is running for reelection.
The post, and I don’t know if it has been taken down, showed a card of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) slate and the name of the voter, precinct number and barangay stapled with P1,000 cash. It also carried the text “Vote Straight BOPK.”
Last Friday, May 3, Superbalita Cebu sent a text message to the mayor to get his reaction, but he ignored it. Well, what else do you call it when someone doesn’t reply to your text?
Osmeña has more pressing matters to attend to like making sure he wins next Monday’s election. And I’m sure he has his hands full preparing for the group’s Miting de Avance at the oval of the Cebu City Sports Center this afternoon, May 5.
Come to think of it, the City Government was distributing sacks of NFA rice also at the oval last Friday. Maybe that was why he couldn’t reply. I’m not sure who the recipients were, but I was told they were habal-habal drivers.
By the way, not to be outdone, a Facebook account holder named “Lovely Amor,” who apparently is an ardent Osmeña supporter, ran a post that showed five P1,000 bills with a colored sample ballot bearing the names of the Barug PDP-Laban slate headed by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, Osmeña’s opponent in the mayoral race. The money and the sample ballot were not stapled, though.
Labella, whose official Facebook page ran the post, denounced it.
“Since I entered politics, I never resorted to vote buying just to win. Not then, not now. To the one who posted this malicious picture, ang Ginoo na lang ang bahala nimo (I leave your fate in God’s hands), Day. May God bless you,” his post reads.
Okay, so maybe he’s overreacting with that God bit, but I actually believe Labella.
In an ideal world, candidates wouldn’t have to resort to buying votes. And even if they did, voters would not accept their money. And men like Labella would win. Hands down.