Voters await cash for votes in Mindanao

Twelve million voters in 26 provinces in Mindanao go to the polls on Monday to elect local officials in the second automated elections in three years.

The Mindanao Development Authority has given assurance that there will be enough electricity to power the ballot scanners, and both the western and eastern commands of the military have deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and militiamen to provide security during the daylong balloting.

Already, there are sure winners—Governors Corazon Malanyaon of Davao Oriental, Rodolfo del Rosario of Davao del Norte, Arturo Uy of Compostela Valley, Angelica Amante of Agusan del Norte, Steve Solon of Sarangani and Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur. They are running unopposed and each needs only one vote to be proclaimed a winner.

Most candidates, however, still have to wait for the results of the balloting. And on the eve of the elections, some continued to play dirty and voters played their game.

In Ozamiz City, voters on Sunday continued to wait for cash from the politicians. Many loitered around in groups on street corners, expecting last-minute windfalls.

Disenfranchised

In Baroy, Lanao del Norte, some voters felt like “disenfranchised supporters” after failing to receive the promised cash.

“We have been waiting the past two days and it never came. We knew they have already distributed cash in other areas,” a market vendor told the Inquirer in Visayan.

The Inquirer learned that votes in Baroy were being bought at “packaged” prices of P500 to P1500. One camp offered a “backing” of P500, which means a fee for voters who can confirm to the camp that they voted for its candidates.

In Davao Oriental, vote-buying was reported in the typhoon-devastated towns of Cateel and Baganga. People were being offered P500 for their votes.

Free transport

In New Bataan, Compostela Valley, hit by Typhoon “Pablo,” a candidate reportedly promised free transportation to the polling center, 3 kilometers away, for the 58 families still living in the tent city.

In General Santos City, nine supporters of mayoral candidate Ronnel Rivera and congressional candidate Rogelio Pacquiao, younger brother of Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, the world boxing champion, were intercepted while trying to transport sacks of rice in the village of San Jose.—Reports from Julie S. Alipala, Ryan D. Rosauro, Rolando Pinsoy, Dennis Jay Santos, Charlie C. Señase, Aquiles Z. Zonio, Bobby Lagsa, Danilo Adorador III, Karlos Manlupig and Chris Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao