It’s good to know that many Filipinos are wary of widespread vote buying in the midterm elections. The problem has been a persistent concern in Philippine electoral exercises.
A non-commissioned survey conducted from Feb. 22 to 28 by the OCTA Research Group showed 66 percent of the 1,200 respondents believing that vote buying will be prevalent in the May elections. The high expectation cut across geographic and socioeconomic classes.
Asked about the impact of vote buying, 68 percent of the respondents said it would negatively affect the election results.
OCTA said the survey was conducted to highlight the threat posed by vote buying to the integrity of Philippine elections and democracy itself. The group described vote buying as “a form of electoral malpractice.”
Even during elections under the authoritarian regime of the elder Ferdinand Marcos, voters had sought guidance from the opposition on how they would deal with vote buying by administration candidates.
Jaime Cardinal Sin, at the time the archbishop of Manila, advised the people to accept the money but to vote according to their conscience. It was a recognition of the reality that millions of Filipinos in dire financial straits needed the money.
Today poverty persists, with 17.4 million families or 63 percent rating themselves as poor as of December 2024 – the highest in 21 years or since the 64 percent in November 2003, according to pollster Social Weather Stations.
At the start of this year, the National Economic and Development Authority announced its target of cutting the poverty rate to 13.2 percent or lower in 2025. That’s still a lot of Filipinos living below the poverty line, and who are vulnerable to the buy-and-sell of votes, regardless of its impact on electoral integrity.
Following the OCTA survey, the question is whether needy voters can say no to the vote buyers, and whether the general public will heed calls from the Commission on Elections to report suspected cases of vote buying and selling.
Perhaps the results of the OCTA survey indicate public readiness to cooperate in efforts to address the problem. The Comelec, concerned groups and other stakeholders working for credible elections can consider this an opportunity to ramp up efforts to stop vote buying and punish the perpetrators.