Vote-buying and defective VCMs mar polls

Task Force Kontra Bigay of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police has unearthed cases of vote selling and buying in many areas.

As of this writing, 213 people have been arrested for selling or buying votes at prices ranging from P200 to P25,000 in Eastern Visayas, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, the provinces of Pangasinan, Isabela and Cavite, and Antipolo City and Cainta in Rizal province.

But the alleged cases in Quezon City, Muntinlupa and Makati are the hot topics today.

Quezon City Rep. Bingbong Crisologo, who is running for mayor, was arrested on Sunday evening at an alleged vote-buying site. He has been charged with obstruction of justice, unjust vexation, grave coercion and resisting arrest resulting in physical injury in the city prosecutor’s office. Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, Metro police chief, said that after receiving complaints, they sent undercover operatives who were surrounded and threatened by Crisologo’s men.

Crisologo denied the allegations, saying his followers were just training election watchers in the Bahay Toro house when it was raided. His group claimed that no search warrant was
presented. Which side would
you believe here?

(Eleazar told this writer that Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered Crisologo’s handcuffs removed out of courtesy but
the latter refused.)

In Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City, 17 persons were arrested with sample ballots and cash ranging from P300 to P500, allegedly in favor of incumbent Mayor Jaime Fresnedi. Junoy Verano, a lawyer from Fresnedi’s camp, said the 17 were ordered released by the city prosecutor for “lack of probable cause.” Which side would you believe here?

In Makati City, policemen arrested the treasurer, secretary and administrative officer of Barangay San Isidro and 57 others over charges of vote-buying and selling. The police said they recovered P410,000 in cash along with copies of Mayor Abby Binay’s Ulat sa Bayan.

But lawyer Jose Solis claimed the seized money was actually the barangay payroll for May 15. There was a watchers’ list because they wanted to check if these were actual residents of the barangay. He also said that the Ulat sa Bayan was the city government’s official yearly publication.

So again, who would you believe here?

The eight-time rejection by a vote counting machine (VCM) of former VP Jojo Binay’s ballot highlighted similar problems nationwide. Breakdowns were reported in Mindanao, Metro Manila, Cavite, Tarlac and Bataan, even overseas.

In May 2016, I remember Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia saying that 2,363 out of 92,509 VCMs malfunctioned on election day. Smartmatic then insisted that only 188 VCMs broke down and were replaced. So who was telling the truth then? Why did this happen again?

* * *

Tune in to the “Banner Story” radio-TV show, Monday-
Friday, 6-9 a.m., on dzIQ (990AM), ABS-CBN TV Plus Channel 30. E-mail [email protected] for comments.