Barangay-SK Elections is not also not immune to vote buying
Barangay-SK Elections – In this era of modern technology, vote buying has also gone digital and this is something alarming.
Local polls will take place on October 30. The campaign period will start on October 19 and will last until October 28. This election for the basic unit of government is also being penetrated by corruption.
In a report from The Philippine Star, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) warned banks and financial institutions against digital vote buying and vote selling.
BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said that BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) should be aware of the possible digital vote buying on election day. “BSFIs are likewise urged to tighten their existing controls in detecting or preventing the possible influx of fraudulent accounts and transactions as the election date approaches,” Fonacier said.
She also said that BSFIs should submit suspicious transaction reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, especially if there is a large transaction that is involved which is not the usual situation, or if the transaction has no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose, or economic justification.
The transaction can also be considered suspicious if the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial profile of the client.
The Barangay-SK elections can be considered a smaller political event only but the corruption can be as big as the national elections. In the history of the elections in the Philippines, there have been many accusations against certain politicians and political parties but no concrete evidence has been presented.
Based on the article in Philippine News Agency, “Any person found guilty of any election offense under this Code shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years and shall not be subject to probation.”
Vote-buying is not only limited to money. Based on Section 261(a), “anything of value, gives or promises any office or employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or makes or offers to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity, or community.“
However, with this elaborate detail regarding the offense, the accusations, allegations, and speculations about vote-buying are still rampant. There had been reports showing money or any means used for vote-buying but it just remained like that.
The government and the people should be more vigilant about this, especially nowadays that transferring money can be done through digital money transfer platforms.
Indeed, vote-buying can be digital now but it is believed that karma nowadays is also digital, it comes faster than expected.
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