NDF-EV warns politicians against vote-buying and election violence

By NDF-Eastern Visayas
April 7, 2013

The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today said that election candidates campaigning in the revolutionary jurisdiction will be strictly monitored to prevent vote-buying and election violence.

“The election candidates must comply with the guidelines of the people's democratic government, especially the prohibition of vote-buying and coercion,” said Fr. Santiago Salas, NDF-EV spokesperson.

“While the reactionary ruling system pretends to undergo clean and honest elections, the reality is that traditional politics have always meant the use of money and armed minions to buy and coerce votes. Thus, the revolutionary movement asserts to the traditional politicians that such condescencion towards the people will not be tolerated.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson noted that previous studies have shown the reactionary elections as elitist and rotten to the core. “Even the legally allowed ceilings for campaign spending show that candidates for top positions must be multimillionaires. That means they are representatives of big landlords and big business. Noynoy Aquino, for example, legally spent more than P400 million in 2010 to win the presidency. In reality, however, a candidate for president can spend more than P2 billion to mobilize the resources necessary to win, according to a 2001 study by IBON Foundation on the 1998 Estrada presidential campaign.

“Candidates at the local level spend commensurately. A candidate for governor or congressman typically spends P100-200 million to win, not just in the legal campaign, but to either buy or coerce votes. They are spending such for three-year positions roughly worth about P3 million in accumulated salaries. It goes to show that the winning candidates will be recouping their spending by continuing the vicious cycle of systematic corruption, patronage politics and crime while in power.”

Fr. Salas said the New People's Army has been tasked to enforce the guidelines of the people's democratic government in the reactionary elections. “The NPA will be vigilant against vote-buying, which is forbidden by the people's democratic government. The buying of votes takes advantage of the people's desperation as well as sows corruption and disunity. Even families have been known to fight among themselves over money from rival politicians. Thus, the NPA will confiscate any war-chest for vote-buying by the politicians, and turn these over to the local organs of political power and mass organizations to be used for the benefit of the people. However, if the election candidates will give financial support to projects for the benefit of the people and not for the buying of individual votes, they will be allowed to do so.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson also warned that armed minions of reactionary candidates, including the military, police and paramilitary, will be regarded as legitimate targets by the NPA.

“It is well-known that traditional politicians build up their own private armies as well as cultivate relationships with the military, police and paramilitary. The NPA intends to break up these private armies and confiscate their weapons for coercing votes and sowing fear among the people. Government security forces who bolster the private armies of the traditional politicians are of course legitimate targets. In their negotiations for electoral access to revolutionary areas, the election candidates have already been made fully aware of the guidelines regarding their security escorts. Any violation will be accordingly dealt with.”