CANDABA - A group of concerned citizens from 14 barangays in tagalog region here who identified themselves as members of the "Ako Ang Simula Movement" mostly women had condemned massive vote buying after they reported the same to the police sub-station in Barangay Bahay Pare allegedly being undertaken by some politicians in their respective communities.
This came as more than 50 women sought the assistance of the local police to put into record their complaint about the on-going of vote buying activity which according to them started late last week.
''Ang gusto lang po namin ay malinis na halalan hindi iyong idadaan na lang nila sa pera pera ang laban. Iyong parehas lang ang laban. Eh sa kasalukuyan po ay nagbabahay bahay sila halos lahat ng pinupuntahan nila ay binibigyan nila ng sobre na may lamang pera," Marcela Andres, 43, a resident here said.
Asked about the personality of the politician who involved in vote buying, Andres identified congressional wannabe Juan Pablo "Rimpy" Bondoc allegedly using his local counterpart in distributing envelops containing money .
Andres clarified, however that they are filing their complaint on their own initiative merely for the purpose of pushing the greater interest of the Candabenios who wanted to have clean and honest elections.
"Ganito ang ginagawa nila sa unang punta nila bibigyan ka nila ng sobre na may lamang tatlong daang piso tapos ililista nila ang pangalan pati address ng bahay at isang araw bago ang eleksiyon magbibigay daw sila ulit ng panibagong sobre na may lamang pitong daang piso," she noted.
Mandy Lopez, also a resident here stated that vote buying is happening not only in Barangay Bahay Pare but in entire tagalog region.
"Nangyayari po ito hindi lamang sa amin, may mga kasamahan kami mula sa ibat ibang barangay dito sa nagsusumbong na talamak din ang ginagawang pamimili ng boto sa kani-kanilang lugar. Magpa file din kami ng complaint sa Comelec pagkatapos nito," Lopez stressed.
Meanwhile, in a previous interview with Atty. Fernando Cot-om, provincial election supervisor, he explained that vote buying among other election offenses under the existing laws governing the conduct of midterm elections is illegal and punishable under the law.
Violators of the election laws are set to face an imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years. They shall also likewise be deprived of the right to vote and be disqualified from holding public office.
Under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code, vote-buying and vote-selling are prohibited:
"Any person who gives, offers or promises money or anything of value, gives or promises any office or employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or makes or offers to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity, or community in order to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against any aspirant for the nomination or choice of a candidate in a convention or similar selection process of a political party" and
Pampanga Today tried to reach the Bondoc for comment but cannot be reached as of press time.
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