Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde, Philippine National Police chief, yesterday admitted that vote-buying is one of the hardest challenges that law enforcers have to deal with in the upcoming May 13 midterm elections.
Albayalde said voter’s education is vital to stop vote-buying and enable the public to discern who to vote for.
“Ang vote buying napakahirap bantayan it’s because seemingly almost all of the candidates, we’re not saying everybody, but almost all of them have allegations of vote buying. Lahat ito kailangan bantayan na mga kandidato,” he said.
“Sabihin na natin nabigyan tayo ng pera hindi natin maiwasan na tumanggap ng ano but then again iboto natin kung sino ang nararapat. Kung hindi maano ng pulis ‘yang vote buying, tanggapin na lang natin siguro ‘yong pera pero iboto pa rin natin kung sino ang nararapat,” he said.
Under Section 261 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 261, vote buying is referred to as the act of giving, offering, or promising money or anything of value “in order to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against any aspirant for the nomination or choice of a candidate in a convention or similar selection process of a political party.”
It is considered a corrupt practice by the Commission on Elections and is punishable by imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years.
“I think the best thing here is voter’s education. Malaman ng tao kung sino ang dapat iboto. Hindi kung sino ang nagbigay ng mas malaking pera ‘yan na ang iboto nila,” Albayalde said. (Martin Sandongdong)
