BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
ELECTION WATCH / BREAKING NEWS
May 14, 2007 – 8:28pm

The poll monitoring group Kontra Daya has documented a number of vote-buying incidents and disenfranchisement cases in Metro Manila and Mindanao.

The vote-buying incidents reported by Kontra Daya were all allegedly perpetrated by mayoral candidates.

In Brgy. 649, Tondo, Manila, the supporters of a mayoral candidate were reported to be giving away as much as P1,000 per voter. In other areas in Manila, the supporters of the same candidate were said to be giving away stickers with P20 bills enclosed.

In Pasay City, a barangay captain supporting a mayoral candidate was giving away P200 per person.

In Valenzuela City, a mayoral candidate was giving away groceries in Canumay late at night on the eve of election day.

In Mindanao, another mayoral candidate was reported to be buying votes at P500-700 per person in El Paradiso, Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental. In Zamboanga, also in Mindanao, a mayoral candidate was reportedly giving away five liter of gasoline each to tricycle drivers in exchange for votes.

Kontra Daya also reported a number of disenfranchisement cases in Metro Manila – affecting both affluent communities and urban poor areas.

One voter from Corinthian Gardens, for instance, complained of her name having been stricken off the voters’ list in her precinct for her alleged failure to vote in the last two elections. She disputed this claim.

Another election watchdog group, Halalang Marangal (Halal), reported a similar incident at the Trinity College in Quezon City. A Ramon Gamboa Suarez reported to Halal that his wife’s name was also stricken off the voters’ list in her precinct, on the ground that she had failed to vote in the last two elections. Suarez said this was not true, as his wife had voted in the 2004 elections.

“It was a picture of chaos,” said Kontra Daya convener Fr. Joe Dizon. “There was confusion in many areas. The elections have not improved. The same problems persist. The world is watching and all they are seeing are Filipinos unable to freely and properly exercise their right to suffrage.”

Halal also reported vote-buying incidents and disenfranchisement cases in Saguday, Quirino.

Kontra Daya receives report through its hotline 4420940. It is set to release another report this Wednesday.

Halal is headed by retired Army Gen. Francisco Gudani. (Bulatlat.com)

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