Don’t sell your votes, Drilon tells electorate

Senator Franklin Drilon. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Franklin Drilon warned the electorate on Wednesday against selling their votes and accepting money or free transportation allowance, food   and drinks “directly or indirectly”, saying it would “undermine the integrity of the election.”

“Don’t sell your votes,” said Drilon, campaign manager of Team PNoy, said in a statement.

“I appeal to the electorate not to accept money from candidates or their emissaries in exchange for your votes. Kapag ginawa ninyo iyon, tayong taumbayan ang matatalo sa huli dahil mga corrupt ang mailalagay sa pwesto,”  he said.

He issued the warning in the wake of reports that certain quarters were out to lure voters into selling their votes barely a week  before the polls.

These dirty practices in the past, Drilon said, should not be resurrected under the watch of President Benigno Aquino III, who is strongly against electoral fraud.

“Let us safeguard our votes against cheaters and poll manipulators, whether they will come from the opposing party or the ruling party,” he said.

The senator also warned voters “not to accept, free of charge, directly or indirectly transportation allowance, food, and drinks during election  day as these undermine the integrity of the election.”

At the same time,  Drilon dismissed allegations that the administration was poised to manipulate the results of the elections, saying “insofar as the President and Team PNoy are concerned, cheating is out of the equation.”

“This administration never tolerates fraud and cheating. Let us not forget that the cleansing of voters’ list in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was made possible during the Aquino watch,” he said.

“If cheating in order to win is our goal, we would not have exercised efforts to remove the thousands of ghost voters in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), where most cases of electoral frauds took place,” he added.

Drilon called on the people to be vigilant against election fraud and report irregularities immediately to authorities.

“Ensuring an honest election is a duty not only left to the government; it is the responsibility of every citizen of a nation to safeguard their votes,” he said.