BY GREG CASTILLA – I AM thinking of selling my vote to the highest bidder. Yes, if there is a politician out there who wants to buy my vote in the coming 2016 elections, why not? We can talk about it.
How much is my asking price? Whatever is the current rate for the local, provincial and national candidates. Better yet, the same price that politicians allegedly pay the media, some segments of the Church and the Barangay Captains.
Ever since I was a boy, I’ve heard so many stories of Filipinos selling their vote during elections. So I am not doing something earth-shaking or out of the ordinary. Selling one’s vote during elections in the Philippines is as common as a fish vendor selling fish in the market, but not yet as common as selling one’s kidney.
The reasons for selling one’s vote vary. Some say they need the money. The attractiveness of P500.00, which is not even enough to buy three movie tickets at SM, is so tempting to someone who has no regular job. So poverty has something to do with selling one’s vote.
Other people say that selling their vote is the only way for them to get something tangible from the candidates who forget them anyway after the elections. So opportunism has also something to do with selling one’s vote.
There are those who temporarily surrender their right to vote for their preferred candidates in exchange for something they badly need: cash. So lack of principle has something to do with selling one’s vote.
And let’s not forget those who claim that everybody does it. So the logic is, I might as well do it.
But whatever the reason is, there is no vote-buying, if there are no individuals willing to sell their vote.
Which leads me to the title of this article: Is Your Vote for Sale?
People may think that for many years they have been wronged by many of those politicians they voted for. These politicians have engaged in corruption and plunder with total disregard for what is in the best interest of the people who have not gotten anything substantial in return.
With the coming 2016 elections, the people, out of desperation, may sell their vote no longer just for P500.00 but for the same amount, probably in the thousands, that these politicians allegedly pay some media personalities either to buy their loyalty or to silence them.
This time the people may sell their vote no longer just for P500.00 but for the same amount, probably in kind, that these politicians allegedly give to some Church personalities to get their support.
This time the people may sell their vote no longer just for P500.00 but for the same amount that these politicians allegedly give to Barangay Captains for them to deliver the votes.
The story continues. The scenarios are endless.
In a country where politicians could buy their way into the office the people might think, why not join the fray?
The temptation is very strong especially when the stomach is empty or when thousands of pesos are at stake. And the rationale to sell one’s vote is easy to formulate.
But no matter how one looks at it, vote selling corrupts the value of voting and the process. Voting is so special a civic duty to be bought.
So am I ready to sell my vote in 2016? I don’t want to sell my vote and get the government that I deserve.