VICE President Leni Robredo, a presidential aspirant, said Tuesday, October 26, the public should take the money being offered to them in exchange for their votes but still vote for their preferred candidate.
Robredo said identifying and punishing individuals or candidates involved in vote buying, which is illegal and punishable by law, is hard especially at this time that such activity can be done online and through electronic money transfer.
“Tanggapin niyo kasi galing din naman iyan sa atin. Iyong pinambibili ng boto, pera din iyan ng taumbayan (Accept it because after all, it’s the taxpayers’ money),” she said when asked by a group of household workers on how to deal with vote buying.
“Tatanggapin mo pero ang iboboto mo kung sino iyong nasa konsensya mo. Huwag kang boboto dahil pakiramdam mo mayroon kang utang na loob kasi tinanggap mo, ‘di ba (You accept the money but you vote according to your conscience. Don’t vote because you feel like you owe him/her something by accepting the money),” she added.
Robredo said candidates have no way to find out if those who accepted the money in exchange for their vote truly voted for them.
“Pero ang assurance ko lang sa lahat, wala silang way na malalaman kung ano iyong binoto kasi iyon iyong pantakot nila, eh. Iyon iyong pantakot nila na, ‘Malalaman ko kung ano iyong boto mo.’ So ikaw, dahil takot ka, takot ka na, ‘Oops, iboboto ko na lang siya kasi baka balikan ako kasi kinuha ko iyong pera niya tapos hindi ko siya iboboto” she said.
(They have no way to trace who voted for them. They are just using it to scare you.)
“Wala pong paraan. Walang paraan para malaman niya kung ano iyong binoto niyo. So iyong sa akin, para sa akin, kung binibili niya, hindi niya gagamitin iyong sariling pera niya sa pagbibili. Iyon po iyong itaga niyo sa bato,” she added.
(There is really no way to identify whom the person voted. So for me, the candidate will not use her/his own money to buy votes.)
But in a Twitter post, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez stressed that vote buying is an illegal act.
“I disagree with the notion of taking the money and voting according to your conscience. Vote buying is an election offense regardless of financial situation or noble intentions. Di dapat ginagawa, at di dapat sina-suggest yan sa mga botante,” said Jimenez.
Robredo’s remark also drew negative criticisms from the public.
Earlier, presidential aspirant Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao also made it to the headlines over alleged vote buying activities especially during an event his group held in Batangas and Benguet days after filing his certificate of candidacy.
Pacquiao, in defense, said he was not vote buying and that he has been distributing money to people since 2002, regardless of whether there is an election or whether he is running or not. (SunStar Philippines)