EDITORIAL – Punish them

Buying and selling votes, conspiring to bribe voters, and electioneering are offenses under the law. Buying votes gives an unfair advantage to wealthy candidates, including those whose funds are raised illegally. Penalties under the Omnibus Election Code include several years in prison without parole, disqualification from holding public office and loss of the right to vote. Political parties face fines.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, which has supervision over barangays, reported receiving complaints about 100 congressmen and more than 1,000 local government officials engaged in vote-buying. As polling precincts closed yesterday afternoon, however, fewer than a dozen suspected offenders had been apprehended, according to the DILG.

An official of the DILG said candidates were paying as much as P3,000 per vote. Where do candidates for barangay positions get that kind of money? Apart from arresting the offenders, the DILG must try to determine the source of the funds. It can tap the Philippine National Police and Bureau of Internal Revenue to find out if dirty money financed any the vote-buyer’s campaign. If probable cause is found for certain predicate crimes, the Anti-Money Laundering Council can also be tapped for help.

President Duterte, who skipped yesterday’s vote, had wanted the barangay elections postponed yet again, explaining that he did not want drug money financing the campaigns of certain candidates. Barangay officials, he said, account for many of the thousands on his narco list.

Apart from drug trafficking, barangay officials have been linked to illegal gambling and the corruption that it engenders. Certain barangay officials linked to jueteng have successfully laundered their dirty money and attained higher office in the local government. Several have strengthened their hold on political power by contributing to presidential campaigns.

This is why it is important for authorities to identify, prosecute and punish vote buyers. It is not enough for the DILG to report the number of complaints it has received on vote buying. Every vote that is bought can lead authorities to a wider network of dirty money. Unless the government shows that this is a criminal act wherein punishment is guaranteed, vote buying will never stop.