Vote-buying part of PHL election culture, says DILG exec

Vote-buying has become part of the country's electoral culture, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Monday.

During an interview on GMA News TV's News To Go, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said some politicians have resorted to vote-buying after the Commission on Elections pushed with the election automation.

"We have somehow accepted this as part of our electoral culture, which I think is bad for our democracy," Malaya said.

"Before, yung dayaan sa eleksyon was mostly focused on because manual. But because of the automation, human interference has been reduced to the very barest minimum so the politicians have started thinking of other ways to influence the voters," he added.

Malaya said voters tend to think of the short term benefit they get from politicians and forget the long term effects, particularly in the form of corruption once the candidate wins.

"Ang epekto kasi nito, babawiin din ng mga pulitiko yan e. The hundreds of millions that they spent will come back to people in the form of corruption in government. We need to reduce this to stop the cycle," Malaya said.

Malaya thus lauded the efforts of the Commission on Elections through Task Force Kontra Bigay, an inter-agency body composed of the DILG, the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Malaya said the role of Comelec in the task force is to encourage Filipinos to report incidents of vote-buying, while the NBI and PNP will investigate and file cases, and the DILG tasked to conduct awareness campaigns.

"This effort of the Comelec to bring the government agencies to fight this, I think it's a good step kasi we have somehow closed our eyes to that reality," he said.

Malaya warned candidates proven guilty of vote-buying may either face imprisonment, disqualification to seek public office, or removal from office in the event he is proclaimed already.

"If you willfully sell your vote, it's an election offense. Kung ikaw naman yung nag-induce sa isang tao or kumausap sa kanila or ikaw nagbayad, that's also part of an election offense under the Omnibus Election Code," Malaya said.

As of 12 noon, the PNP has reported around 100 incidents of vote-buying involving 244 violators which led to the arrest of 234 persons. —Joseph Tristan Roxas/NB, GMA News