Butuan voters to accept money from candidates— Catholic university's survey

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines — As in previous elections, many voters in this city said they would accept money in exchange for their votes, a survey conducted by a Catholic university showed.

The survey was conducted from March 25 to 31 by the Graduate Studies and Research Office at the Fr. Saturnino Urios University (FSUU).

At least 77.97 percent of the 2,188 respondents from 86 brangays said they would get the money to be offered by candidates.

Surveys conducted by the same university during the 2013 elections showed that seven of 10 voters are expecting money from candidates. The respondents also said they also knew someone in their community who expect to receive money during elections.

Josefe Sorrera-Ty, executive director of the FSUU Policy Center, said the survey aims to provide the public a non-partisan report on the perception of voters in the May 13 polls.

It was not explained why vote buying is welcome among voters in this city.

The survey also showed that 45.9 percent of voters are undecided who to vote for mayor. Some of the respondents said they do not know the candidates.

Aside from Mayor Ronnie Lagnada, who is seeking reelection, the other candidates are Vice Mayor Nonong Balanon of PDP-Laban, Edward Chan and Manny Esteves.