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Shocking

October 26, 2021 People's Tonight 543 views

IN the Philippines, people are shocked and saddened by the continued election of “do-nothing” but filty rich politicians, notably in the countryside where majority of the poor live.

Since there’s widespread poverty in the country, where many of our women are forced to work as domestic helpers abroad, moneyed politicians find it easy to buy votes.

Of course, nobody can blame our countrymen for accepting financial and material assistance from candidates.

“Pero dahil hindi naman nanghihingi ng pera, sana ang mga botante ay iboto ang mga karapat-dapat na kandidato at hindi yong mga namimili ng boto ,” said a worker displaced by the pandemic.

Today, many well-meaning and deserving Filipinos are reluctant or simply refuse to seek public office during elections, knowing full well that poll spending has reached scandalous proportions.

Unlike during the formative years of democracy in this Asian nation of God-fearing people, a poor candidate can no longer win a Philippine election, according to a political analyst.

Election laws prohibit overspending during elections, national or local, but the sad reality is that extreme difficulties have been encountered to establish guilt on the part of the violator.

Besides, no voter in his/her right mind will ever admit that “ibinenta niya ang kanyang boto sa highest bidder kasi pati siya ay mapaparusahan din,” another poll observer said.

Thus, there’s a need to educate the Filipino electorate on the evils of vote-buying in a country teeming with election-crazy people and corrupt government officials and employees.

That should begin an crusade to elect incorruptible and responsible public servants.

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