Vote Buying in Election and Other Related Violence

This is the day where local campaign leaders are busy not for campaigning their candidates but checking the lists of voters who are on their vote buying list.

It is a sad thing for Philippine politics that vote buying during election becomes a tradition and worst becomes the culture of the Filipinos. That is why corruption will be very difficult to eradicate because of huge amount spent on vote buying. There are some politicians who do not rely on advertising, public debates, campaigning since they know that there are some or a lot of people who can bought before the day of the elections.

The amount of money ranges from P50 up to P5,000 depending on the position of the candidate. At the local level, candidates for mayor and congressman starts from P1000 per head. A local candidate in a municipality even gives 1 sack of rice as an additional incentive to voters who will shift their support.

Violence and threats from opposing groups or supporters are also common. There are times that supporters of a candidate will harass voters who are known to support their rivals.

As of this moment, there are already some reports that attempts to steal ballots and PCOS machine were made in some provincial areas.

We just hope that on May 10, 2010 elections, we will have an orderly and peaceful elections.