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Vote buying strategy

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Hypothetical question: If someone were to attempt to buy your vote, would you take the money but cast your ballot for the candidate you deem most deserving of the position?

VP Leni Robredo recently came under fire from critics who have suddenly rediscovered their extremely high set of standards for candidates and public officials. These people who have kept silent through six years of bad jokes and irresponsible remarks by elected officials and trolls (same difference) of the land were suddenly up in arms because Robredo told kasambahays in a zoom meeting that while vote buying is wrong, they can take the money and still vote according to their conscience.

Why it is acceptable when other candidates “joke” and talk nonsense about serious matters while for others, every word is analyzed and criticized? It is fascinating and frustrating how such double standards can exist but I guess that is how the world works. Maybe Filipinos (and maybe humans in general) love the “funny” rogue and the maverick who gives them an excuse to behave terribly themselves and naturally hate the principled and decent people whose words and actions fail to inspire but instead make them feel inadequate about themselves?

Come to think of it, vote buying isn’t even a serious matter in this country because if it were, our government officials and the Commission on Elections would have done something about this perennial problem by now. The fact that they’ve done nothing despite the practice having become an expected feature of the Filipino electoral process means they don’t see it as a problem. If I remember correctly, nobody even lifted an eyebrow when our great, dear, rambling leader called it “an integral part of elections” in 2019. Perhaps he was joking yet again, we can never really tell because news reports do not include a laugh track.

But if you come to think of it further, from my privileged point of view, maybe vote buying is a joke.

I say that because I’ve never been offered money to vote for somebody in my entire life. Maybe that is because I look like the type who, as instant Presidential Candidate and Senator Bato dela Rosa said in his comments regarding the latest vote buying brouhaha, is capable of committing estafa by taking the money just to breach the verbal contract most likely funded with stolen public funds.

If vote buying has never happened to me in my extensive experience as a voter, is it an urban legend? Can I ask politicians to have their operators target me in May 2022 so I can at least say I have fully experienced the nitty gritty of politics, Philippine style? And given the rumored current rate, get to treat my fam to Frappucinos?

If my memory serves me right, no high-ranking politician has ever been arrested for vote buying. While some alleged operators have been arrested in past elections, it would be safe to assume that no masterminds have been prosecuted because they probably won their election campaigns. As for the losers, well their opponents were probably content that they wasted their hard earned plundered loot on a failed venture and a twisted code of honor among politicos likely stops victors from adding salt to the wounds of an electoral loss.

Anyway, back to the original topic. What should I do if I were offered money to vote for a candidate? Should I refuse? Call the cops? Take the money and follow the instructions? Or commit estafa?

My first instinct would be to take the money because I’d consider it a tax refund.

If I call the cops, only the pusher would be arrested but the drug lord would remain free. Nobody wins: I don’t get money, the poor minion gets arrested, and the mastermind will still continue buying votes.

It doesn’t where the funds for vote buying come from. It could be plundered public funds, drug money, “donated” campaign funds, or if the politico is really naïve, their life savings. But the moment they allocate it for vote buying, it is illegal money and if they are giving it away in exchange for a verbal commitment, I’m not saying no because cash is king.  The kicker here is I am already a privileged guy who will spend the cash on a useless luxury that will just make me gassy and my blood sugar go up.

Imagine how that cold, hard cash offer would look like to someone who doesn’t know where their next meal will come from? The high-minded people who live in ivory towers can scream that it is wrong while doing absolutely nothing to stop the practice but if I were asked to give my advice on vote buying, I’d probably say the same thing VP Leni did: Take the damn money and vote according to your own damn conscience. It’s not like they can sue you for breach of contract or estafa if they find out they were scammed.

Instead of uselessly screaming to the wind that vote buying is wrong but ultimately doing nothing about it, why don’t we all put up or votes for sale with the intention of scamming the politicos? Let’s do our research beforehand so our votes are already set and cannot be bought but still accept the cash they offer, not for ourselves, but for the country. We might be able to do a better job than Comelec and the entire government by attempting to put a stop to vote buying this way.*

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