He Still Wins Despite Non-Backing from INC

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

When a central Pangasinan mayor learned that the 3,500 members of the bloc voting religion’s Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in his first class town will be voting for his rival in the mayoralty race which he tangled for the third time he rushed to the bank and withdrew P21 million he would use to vote buy.
“Biyernes noong malaman ko na ang Iglesia doon boboto sa kalaban ko. Ang election sa susunod na Lunes. Binaha ko ng P300 ang kada botante ng Biyernes, Sabado, at Linggo ang bayan at mga barangay,” he referred to probably 40,000 voters in the 2013 mayoralty election.

The rule of the thumb in the Philippines is 75% of the voters vote. So he exploited the mostly gullible, naïve, and poor 30, 000 electorates.
“You have to buy 20, 000 of the voters to win,” he told me.

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(Photo: Grab from the internet)

He cited if each voter cost P500 that would be P10 million. If each of them was worth P300 that would be P6,000, 000.
The seasoned mayor, a successful businessman, added to me that the poor voters are apathetic to the projects a chief executive of the town or city gave to the community.
“Wala sa kanila iyon. Halimbawa pina semento mo ang barangay road two years ago. Pero ang kalaban mo namigay ng P500 sa araw bago mag election, mas bobotohin nila iyong nagbigay kaysa doon sa maraming projects noong nakaraang dalawang taon,” he cited.

He won with a small  margin of 1,200 votes thanks but no thanks to the last hour of another “wave” of vote buying he did.

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In a local government unit where two rivals for the mayorship are very rich, the voters two months before the election were treated with dole-outs like several kilos of rice, more than a dozen of can goods, coffee, and P300 to P500 through stubs to be claimed at some clandestine residences and warehouses of these candidates.

“Masuerte kami kaysa mga kandidatong tumatakbong governor. Dito pa sa maliit na lugar nag-umpugan ang dalawang mayaman na ito. Kung sa province ay P500 ang pakurong, dito linggo linggo may pakurong!” a wide-eyed poor voter who rode a tricykad or bicycle with a side car full of goodies given by a candidate.

Pakurong is Pangasinan term for dole outs in cash or in kind that candidates give to voters surreptitiously in the eve of election day.

Estimated amount, according to some political kibitzers, that each of the two bets will shell out to each of the voters in the eve of the May 13 poll will be between P2000 to P3000.

(See: Voters Price Depend on Another Rival’s Capacity to Give)

With a desire not to miss the “flood” of dole-outs and huge sums, many members of the middle class and those residents of the plush subdivisions in this place even volunteered themselves, susmariosep, to the leaders of these bets to be listed as beneficiaries of the vote buying.

“These sons of guns don’t want to miss the treat and the train, too!” I told myself about how low the moral fiber of the Filipinos nowadays.

“O baka lang gusto nilang gatasan itong dalawang kandidato, then they will vote what their consciences told them,” my missus  butted in.

***

“Money Makes the World Go Round”

I agree about the just cited axiom specially in local politics. Three barangay chairmen of a fourth class town in my province told me while I was with some media men and their mayor.

They said that when the former governor was at the helm of the public office many villages in their municipality were beneficiaries of millions of pesos farm-to-market road, re-gravelling of the road, and others.

Despite of those projects from a well meaning and visionary soft spoken governor, the kapitans would still prefer the second governor who beat in the election the first governor/

“His opponent did not have those projects. But during election campaign he and his leaders will call us kapitans and gave us P200,000 each for our personal use,” one of the kaps referred to the second governor.

One of them recalled that they kept supporting the reelection of the second governor because the monies he doled out to them went straight to their pockets.

“He used the glitters of money to make his supporters toe the line,” I quipped then.
These village chiefs did not give a damn about the benefits the barangay get from the first governor. For them the primordial thing was they had that personal fund where they can splurge it for themselves.

Most if not many of these political supporters and the voters are similar: Monies dictate their loyalty and preference.

To quote Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez, after he was ambushed and wounded in Quezon City,  to Police Director and General Tomas Karingal : What is happening to our country, general?
Sanamagan! What is happening now to the Philippines?

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

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