EDITORIAL - Buying votes

Article 22 of the Omnibus Election Code or Batas Pambansa 881, passed in December 1985, defines vote-buying as “any person who gives, offers or promises 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.”

As accusations of vote buying are hurled, the Commission on Elections announced it would create a task force that will handle complaints involving the offense. The Comelec stressed that it wanted “concrete evidence” instead of mere media reports to back the accusations.

It is uncertain if video clips of money being handed out by politicians or their supporters to rally participants, all of them wearing the campaign shirts of particular candidates, would constitute “concrete evidence.” A task force is being formed to go after offenders, composed of the Department of Justice, police, military and the Comelec’s gun ban committee.

The Comelec is urging the public to report possible cases of vote buying. But with the poll body emasculated in many aspects of its mandate, there are doubts on whether it can actually pursue complaints. Comelec officials themselves have warned that candidates for local posts accused of vote buying might say the local campaign has not yet officially started so they can still give away whatever they want.

One local executive claimed the distribution of ayuda to his constituents merely coincided with the campaign rally scheduled that day of a national candidate. Election watchdogs, on the other hand, say if cash distributions coincide with rallies for national candidates, any person including a non-candidate can be held liable for vote buying under BP 881.

Those accused of the offense can be expected to strongly fight the charges. Penalties under BP 881 range from imprisonment of one to six years without probation, deprivation of the right to vote, and perpetual disqualification from public office.

Apart from actual cash handouts, the country has been warned by monetary and anti-money laundering authorities that vote buying could be going digital. Specific acts that could indicate this type of election offense have been provided by the authorities to banks and financial service providers. 

There are enough laws to discourage vote buying and penalize offenders. As in most laws in this country, what is needed is proper enforcement.