P170K per vote for Kaps Prexy in this town

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Since the filling of the candidacy for the League of Barangays (the former Association of Barangay Councils) and his slate started last Monday (July 9) and will end on July 13 for the synchronized polls in the country on July 16, I could not forget the expensive political stunts by some village chiefs (Kapitan in the vernacular) who were gung-ho to win the ex-oficio membership in the Sangguniangs Bayan and Panlungsod (Legislative councils in a town or city).

 

Here was an incident in a first class town as narrated by a losing bet to me:

He was egged on by a relative of a congressman to run. Since the cousin of the solon was his patron in his big ticket construction business he almost heeded the advice of the former: Don’t buy the vote of each of the 29 kapitans as other towns and cities did. Let’s have a clean election.

But because his profits were overflowing in the construction business building government projects of the congressman, he did give a pittance or beer monies’ P20, 000 to each of 29 village chiefs.

The rival, a contractor too, thought Kapitan-1 was a tightwad. He confidently offered each of the village chiefs a staggering P100, 000 in a supposed to be prestigious lawmaking position that only gives more than P60, 000 monthly pay.  

Many of the 29 village chiefs who earlier gave their unwavering my- family- would- be- hit- by- lightning loyalty to Kapitan-1, made, son of a gun, a turn-around. 
While some of them returned the P20, 000, the other callous faced son of a b*tch did not bother to return the monies and instead relished the reality that they were padded by the P100, 000 given by Kapitan-2.

“Hindi ako nagulat sa laki ng ibibigay niya. Kaya kong sabayan iyon, marami akong pera,” he told me.

He and his operators started maneuvering the 29 Kapitans- by giving them between P100 thousand to P170 thousand each.

Many of the recipients have already made their minds with Contractor-Kapitan -2, said to have contact with sicarios or hit men, returned to the police station the monies they received from Kapitan-1.

Some probably returned it because of past experiences in the 48 towns and cities’ Pangasinan where some village chiefs were assassinated because of avarice (higher than greed) who pocketed both sums from the rival candidates, some returned them because of palabra de honor – a Spanish words for Filipinos on word of honor.

“Despite the monies being returned to the police station, many of them were short of their original amounts. What left in the P100 thousand in the big envelop was P75, 000. What left in the P120 thousand was P110, 000. We did not know if the kapitans or the police pocketed some of them,” a kin of Contractor-Kapitan 1 rued.

In that election, Kapitan 2 won through his chutzpah despite the superior wherewithal of Kapitan’s Johnny-Come-Lately in the game of the highest bidding to barefaced kapitan-voters. The same village's chief executives whose principle cannot only be bought by more bribe but understand how a bullet of an assassin could stop them to celebrate their next year’s birthday if they breached a contract.

***

But not all Barangay Captains in the Philippines are shameless. You should laud this village chief in a Pangasinan’s city when he was able to resist pressure through tens of millions of pesos profit to be infused to his contracting business.

According to a senior media man, Kap A was asked by the mayor if he will vote for Bet A for the  ABC Presidency versus Bet B in a neck and neck match in the 31 barangays.

Kap A retorted in the affirmative.

“Halika dito, ibigay mo iyong envelop (with wads of tens of thousands pesos) sa kay Kap,” he called his secretary.

“Huwag na mayor, itago niyo na iyan. Makakasiguro na kayo sa  boto ko,” Kap A reacted.

Upon hearing that Kap A will vote for Bet A, the camp of Bet B, whose family was into a big business, asked the former mayor and a very powerful member of the House of Representatives whose voice alone made the secretary and regional and provincial big wigs of the Department of Public Works & Highway tremble with fear.

Powerful Congressman ordered the DPWH District Engineer (D.E) to go to the house of Kap A and told him that he will do tens of millions of pesos government projects (where millions of pesos will be his profit) in exchange to vote for their backed up Bet B.

This what Bet A told the DE: “Pakisabi na lang kay Congressman, hindi ko siya mapagbigyan dahil nakapag kumpromisa na ako kay mayor na iboboto ko si Bet A. Humiling na lang kayo ng ibang pabor”.

Senior media man told me: Grabe ang botohan. Unang bilang pangalan ni Bet A kaagad ang tinawag. Ikalawang bilang pangalan ni Bet B ang tinawag. Palitan ang pangalan nila. Noong natapos na ang bilangan 15 versus 15 except sa isang balot. Kap A told me: “Sunod kayo doon sa bahay ko, inum tayo. Alam ko na kung sino ang panalo kasi iyong isang balota na iyan, sa akin iyan”.

When the last ballot was fished out by the DILG officer from the ballot box, he shouted: Bet A!

Now, who said that the loyalties of these frigging son of a gun barangay kapitans, where many of them did not have college diplomas, can only be challenged by more than a hundred thousand pesos in this city to turn coat?

There are still few Filipinos who cannot be bought. Pray tell that their breed will not be extinct as more elections in this sorry country wait in the pipeline.

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)