‘Hundreds arrested, tried and imprisoned will be the only major deterrent against massive cheating and vote-buying…’
THE nation is deluged with election propaganda replete with glowing promises, of course, than real facts about the candidates. Vice President Leni Robredo is absolutely right – campaign promises do not prove the candidate’s capacity and competence to lead and serve. In an interview with Christian pastors evangelical leaders, she stressed it’s more helpful to look at the candidates’ list of accomplishments than be drawn to political and promotional cosmetics.
She said people should ask: “Who were they before they entered politics? What did they stand for and how were they as ordinary citizens?” It is also crucial to find out “when we say minamahal namin ang mahihirap,” did we actually mean it and what did we do to prove it? When we claim we hate corruption, what actual steps or legislative bills did we take or file? You do not judge me for what I am saying but what I have performed in Congress or as Vice President. She likened voting for a candidate to choosing a spouse. “Sana mas discerning tayo, pag tinitingnan natin ang mga kandidato parang namimili tayo ng asawa… Let us not be lost in their promises but to regard and study them very well.”
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The PNP should exercise more vigilance against vote-buying which still seems to be common among local candidates. No election in this country has been clean and honest due to the inability of the police and the NBI to carry out operations against politicians and their followers engaged in vote-buying. Police operatives should organize entrapment operations not unlike in cases of bribery and drug-dealing or drug-pushing. Even if authorities are hamstrung with the stubborn intricacies of surveillance and investigation, the impact would drive the hard lessons well and would be ultimately formidable. Hundreds arrested, tried and imprisoned will be the only major deterrent against massive cheating and vote-buying during elections. Actual vote-buying activities on election day are actually difficult to uncover and prosecute. Were it not for their political loyalties and partisanship, barangay officials and tanods would be credible sources of information.
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Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna would most likely be elected mayor of Manila hands-down due to her outstanding and zealous co-management with Mayor Isko Moreno of the COVID-19 pandemic. But a survey group, the RP Mission and Development Foundation, has put the relatively obscure Atty. Alex Lopez, son of former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez, suddenly at 38 percent against Lacuna’s 40 percent. Lacuna had tallied 68 percent before Lopez substituted for his brother, Rep. Manny Lopez ,as mayoralty candidate. Lopez has aligned with the UniTeam of Bongbong Marcos and Sarah Duterte-Carpio while Lacuna is with Moreno’s Aksyon Demokratiko. There are rumors circulating in three districts in Manila that the said survey was commissioned by no less than the camp of Marcos, Jr..
