EDITORIAL - Going for the minnow

The vendor of balut or boiled duck egg reportedly had with her a plastic pail containing 120 pieces of the popular delicacy. But the balut was not all that Norma Guiling was carrying when she was accosted by police at the polling center set up in Calbeg Elementary School in Pangasinan. Police said Guiling also had 80 green stubs, which a candidate in last Monday’s barangay elections said was given to the vendor by voters in exchange for the balut, as proof of support for a rival bet.

On Thursday, police filed election-related charges against Guiling and those believed to have enlisted her services for giving away balut to voters on election day. Reelected barangay chairman Remegio Ballesteros of Asin West, his sister Adelina and supporter Esberta Ferrer were charged along with Guiling for violating the Omnibus Election Code.

The four will have their day in court. But it’s good to see charges being filed in connection with a practice that has become common across the country during elections. It would be even better if similar charges would be filed against bigger offenders who buy votes with items far pricier than balut.

The complaint against the balut vendor and her alleged political patrons should serve as a test case and set a precedent for what should lie in store for vote buyers in 2016, wherein the stakes are higher.

Police probers and the Commission on Elections should not dismiss the balut distribution case as a trivial matter. But when vote-buying cases are pursued, authorities should make sure the heaviest penalty falls on the candidate. Anyone found guilty of violating election laws should be permanently barred from seeking elective office. The complaint should also be resolved quickly so that appropriate penalties can be imposed on an accused offender who has been elected.

Now that someone has bothered to file a complaint in what looks like a minor case of vote-buying, similar charges should be brought against bigger offenders. There are many sharks out there. If minnows are to be targeted for election violations, they should be used simply to reel in the big fish.