High tech vote buying uses security featured ticket

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

One of the mayoralty bets at a town in a city used a ticket stub with a security feature to avoid its fabrication by her opponent that could sabotage her electoral stocks.

The two inches by two inches’ stub has a combination of blue, green, and brown stripes, a bar code, and the name of the voter taken from the master's list of the Commission on Election.

The security men of the candidate who checked the queue of roughly three thousand voters in a village at the main entrance of huge warehouse owned by the family of this bet used ultra violet light (UVL) scanner to check their authenticity.

“The light of the pen determines if this is not fake if there is a brown square that will appear when the light hits the blue and green stripes,” a portly security aide of the re-elective Mayor explained the tiny square that appeared at the blue stripe of the stub.

PROSTITUTED VOTERS - Filipino voters queue for a thousand of pesos given to each of them by a candidate before they cast their votes in a poll. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon admitted that vote buying incidents in this year’s polls were worse than the 2016 elections. She also noted that the amount of bribe in exchange for votes has enormously spiked.

Among the “detained” voters, who composed most of the electorates in a village, who would be receiving P1,500 each with the condition to vote for the mayor, vice mayor, and the congressman were 30 men and women caught possessing the fake stubs.

“Nanggaling pa iyan sila sa karatig bayan,” another supporter of the mayor butted - in when someone asked where these people came from.

The aide could not determine if those spurious stubs were commissioned by the rival candidate to wreak havoc to their bribe attempt or they were just enterprising individuals who copied the ticket after the leader of the candidate distributed them around the village a day before.

Inciting to Anger the Voters of a Rival Candidate

It can be recalled an incident in the 2007 election when a challenger in the district ran against the sitting congressman

When a supporter of the former told him at this office the solon would be distributing wads of P500 and P1,000 bills for hundreds of voters at a village, he told the man to go immediately to the printing press owned by an ally with a thick reading glasses to forge the stubs.

“Magpagawa ka ng mga isanlibo at ibigay mo doon sa kabilang barangay. Kopyahin mo iyong araw at oras ng bigayan”

The challenger, known for his shrewdness, wanted to disappoint and anger the recipient voters who would wait there until kingdom come without the monies that never arrived. That hoax would benefit the challenger as they would vote him.

 During the 2019 election in Dagupan City, voters who line up as they wait to vote in a public high school complained to this writer that a leader of a mayoralty bet gave only P3,000 in a household composed of five voters. “Hindi namin binoto iyong kandidato. Masama ang loob namin kasi sa kabilang barangay ang bigayan ay P3,000 kada isa bakit dito kada bahay”.

One of the smarting voters computed that if the leader of the candidate did not give P3,000 to each of the 100 voters, he was P300,000 richer where he could pay the down payment of a brand new car. Many of these leaders have been seen riding in new mini cars and motorcycles that they probably bought in installment basis for the four-wheel and cash for the two-wheel using the monies they stole from their patron. After the election many of the leaders like these around the country were either shot to death or mauled by the thugs of the politicians.

Distribution of the Monies to the Voters

But with the advent of technology and the efficient bar coded stub distribution, that antics could no longer be used to exchange them with bills inside the envelop or bag of groceries composed of kilos of rice, dozens of canned goods, noodles, and packs of coffee in case these bogus voters penetrate the queue, occupied a seat inside the warehouse as the congressman, mayor, his vice mayor, and their slate do their stumps. Their declamations, dances, corny jokes, and other antics have been backed up by huge video screen to illustrate their personal credentials, achievements, and accomplishment.

“Pagkatapos niyan kaming mga security details ay edi-divide namin sila sa dalawang lines palabas doon sa exit sa likod,” the aide explained

As they slowly egress, the candidates wait for them shaking their hands and tapping their shoulders with some quips soliciting support and small talks.

“Iyong mga tao namin doon kukunin ang stubs habang iyong katabi ay magbibigay ng tatlong sobre at sasabihin na iyong isa kay mayor, iyong isa kay vice mayor, iyong last kay congressman”.

Each inside the white envelopes were the bills and decals about the member of the slate and their credentials and accomplishment.

Some supporters of the candidates gave calendars, tee shirts, and other paraphernalia like sample ballots, too.

“Lahat ng barangay dito ay naka schedule one week bago mag election lahat sila bibigyan kung ano ang binigay sa mga voters dito”.

The security man said that a week before the May 13, 2019 election the dole outs would become bigger as the candidate wanted to make sure he wins the poll and neutralized the bloc voting Iglesia ni Cristo Church that endorsed the other camp.

The local government unit, where these two rich mayorship rivals flood with monies and goods, has more or less 100, 000 voters.

The gubernatorial bet did not join the vote buying as he had his own men to do the distribution the old way.
"Bahay bahay iyong sa kanya. Hindi na sumali kasi nahihiya two hundred pesos lang ang kayang pambili ng boto kada ulo" the source cited.

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