MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will soon start its voters’ education campaign for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries to prevent vote-buying in the Philippines.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon underscored the information campaign for the beneficiaries, which composed of around 4 million families, as the illegal practice is rampant among poor Filipinos.
“Kasi sila lagi ang target ng vote-buying kasi mahihirap sila, [kaya] gusto ng DSWD ng voter education,” Guanzon told reporters at the sidelines of Comelec and Foreign Affairs Workshop for the 2022 elections in Manila on Thursday.
(Because they are always the target of vote-buying since they are poor which is why the DSWD wants to have voters’ education.)
Last year’s elections, vote-buying incidents caught the attention of President Rodrigo Duterte. He said the buying of votes will continue as long as the country is still poor.
Voter registration for the May 2022 elections resumed on January this year. As of March 2, Guanzon said the Comelec has a total of 475,475 applicants. Of which, 259,264 voter applicants are men and 216,211 are women.