BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Occidental urged Negrenses to document and report to it incidents of vote buying.
Provincial election supervisor Atty. Roberto Salazar said voters should not be afraid to document acts of vote buying.
Evidence is needed to prove vote buying, he stressed.
Section 261(a) of the Omnibus Election Code outlaws vote buying and selling. It prohibits “any person who gives, offers or promises money or 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 in order to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against any aspirant for the nomination or choice of a candidate in a convention or similar selection process of a political party.”
Violators shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years and shall not be subject to probation.
In addition, the guilty party shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.
Comelec has organized a task force specifically to combat vote buying and selling. It counts as members the Department of Justice, Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in Negros Occidental supports the task force.
Vote buying is “the work of the devil”, said PPCRV-Negros’ Reverend Fr. Chris Gonzales who also heads the Diocese of Bacolod’s Social Action Center./PN