Vote-buying continues to plague election season
By Alexandra Kate Ramirez and Mai Allauigan
As the May 2022 elections draw near, incidents of vote-buying and selling run rampant yet again. Online transactions and payments are now touted as relatively new challenges apart from the traditional ways of granting physical cash aids and non-money benefits. As various forms become increasingly accessible — on top of the poor implementation and weak enforcement of election laws — monitoring vote-buying activities proves to be all the more daunting.
Unabated vote-buying
Vote-buying and vote-selling both threaten the democratic process for the longest time, but they continue to persist among developing countries, the Philippines included, according to the global nonprofit group Innovations for Poverty Action.
“Some strategies have aimed to stop politicians from offering money in exchange for votes, but this approach has often failed due to poor implementation and weak enforcement,” said the group in a report.
While these practices are prohibited under the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), Maria Ela L. Atienza, a political science professor from the University of the Philippines, stressed that they remain rampant because of growing poverty.
“This makes it easier for politicians to exploit the poverty and misery of people and continue the practice of patronage politics and negative aspects of utang na loob,” Atienza asserted.
Under the law, the sanction for vote-buying is a jail term of not less than a year but not more than six years, as well as perpetual disqualification from voting and holding public office.
Dennis C. Coronacion, president of the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA), however, pointed out that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) does not have the manpower to effectively monitor or enforce the law against it.
Presidential candidates under fire
Presidential aspirant Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso was criticized for allegedly vote-buying when he pledged aid worth P7.9 million to 790 families whose houses were razed in a fire that affected four barangays in Cavite last February 13.
Moreno’s said action was regarded as vote-buying by election law expert Emil Marañon III, citing Section 261 (a) of the OEC. Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, on the other hand, maintained that Moreno’s donation to fire victims in Cavite was not vote-buying under Section 261 (a) of the OEC but rather a different election offense — the prohibition of donations by candidates during campaign period, as stated under Section 104 of the OEC.
However, Moreno defended his actions, insisting that it was mere charity during a disaster.
“Eto’y tulong at saka hindi naman ang tao mananalong presidente sa 790 na pamilya eh. Tulong
‘yun, ‘yun ang kusang tulong ng pribadong sektor at nung personal kung bagay. ‘Yun ang pagiging kapwa tao. Ipinararamdam mo sa kababayan mo na meron silang kapwang Pilipino na may malasakit din sa kapwa. But then again, they are entitled to do what they have to do,” he said.
Meanwhile, Moreno was not the first presidential aspirant for the 2022 national elections to be accused of vote-buying. In October 2021, Senator Manny Pacquiao gave out cash and kilos of rice to various groups in several parts of the country during his tour. Consequently, it was pointed out that the renowned boxer’s move was an attempt to earn the people’s votes.
However, while the Comelec said that this was wrong, it cannot be considered as an election offense because the campaign period has not officially begun.
Going digital
More sophisticated means of transferring money, including GCash and PayMaya, pose a novel threat to fair and honest elections — digital vote-buying. According to retired Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, there are still no systems and processes in place for its regulation, investigation, and prosecution.
Amid an anticipated influx of election-related transactions, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), thus advised banks and other financial institutions to adjust their fraud management systems and watch out for potential unlawful activities like digital vote-buying and selling.
Some of these “red flags” include unusual fund flows such as significant or large transactions occurring in a short period of time; structured cash deposits and money transfers; use of multiple accounts by a single transactor, and the use of several money service businesses to send funds.
The council is also working closely with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for information sharing.
