Election20136:30AMeditionTHEPAPERFORPROGRESS facebook.com/olwsunMonday,October282013

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SOYOUSOLDYOURVOTE?Votebuyingrampageinseveralprovinces,mostinVisayas,Minda

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Election2013LATE8:30AMEDITION

2 TheOLWSunOctober28, 2013

A WHOOPING majority of 5 seats in thebarangay council welcomed Team K thismorning, much to the delight of the OLW Sunand supporters.The whole Team K won, except for the el-

dest candidate Jun Alvarado. Mr Alvarado(first from the right, picture in the left) isknown for being a citizen of BarangaySocorro since birth and a lay minister inthe barangay church.According to some reports, Joey De Guz-

man, the incumbent barangay chairmanand re-electionist, lead by only 80 votesagainst his competitor Teodulo Santos.Beng Mesia, from another camp, won the

7th seat. Since the unofficial tally began inthe OLW Sun, she was always in 7th, oroccasionally 6th.

ByDANIELSTAANA

TeamKwinselection

SOYOUSOLDYOURVOTE?

TheOLWSunOctober28, 2013 3

Votebuyingrampageinseveralprovinces,mostinVisayas,MindaCandidates across the countrypulled out all the stops as a singlevote could spell defeat or victory inclose contests in villages where thenumber of registered votersranged from a few hundreds to afew thousands.As a result, massive vote-buying

was reported in Bicol, SouthernTagalog, Central Luzon, northernLuzon, Eastern Visayas, CentralVisayas and Western Visayas, aswell as inMetroManila.

Vote-buying was the norm inelectoral contests in all 31 5barangays in Catanduanes provi-nce, with candidates giving awayanything from a sachet of 3-in-1coffee and noodles to P10 worth of“pan de sal” and outright cash of asmuch as P1 ,000 per voter.

In Barangay San Pedro in Virac,the capital town, where there are243 registered voters, a candidateallegedly gave P1 ,000 per vote,while in the neighboring village ofSan Jose, with the smallest votingpopulation of 1 79, two rivals forbarangay chair offered at leastP400 for each vote.In San Isidro village with more

than a thousand voters, the biggeston the island, the five-way race forbarangay chair had the front-runners offering at least P300 pervoter.

The practice of buying votes wasfanned by former provincial andmunicipal elective officials whowanted their previous posts usingthe backdoor by being electedbarangay chair and subsequentlybecoming ex-officio council mem-bers as presidents of the Liga ngmga Barangaymunicipal chapter.

Among those running wereformer Catanduanes Board Mem-ber Rafael Zuniega, and former Vi-rac Councilors Lemuel Surtida andRene Abella. Zuniega and Abellalost their reelection bids in May,while Surtida had already com-pleted his third term.

In Albay, citizen election watc-hers observed vote-buying in al-most all villages of the province’s1 5 towns and three cities.The amounts given by candidates

for barangay chair ranged fromP50 to P2,000 per voter, whilethose running for a seat on theseven-member village council, theamounts ranged from P20 to P500per voter. The amount wasdependent on the size of abarangay and the number ofvoters.Vote-buying was also reported in

Masbate, Cavite, Quezon andLaguna provinces.

In Bulacan province, Haj iiPacheco, a candidate for barangay

captain of Bancal in MeycauayanCity, filed a disqualification caseagainst his rival, Mariano Alarilla,for alleged vote-buying.Pacheco said his supporters had

recovered bottles of wine with thename and photograph of Alarillaon the labels. He said they alsorecovered envelopes containingP400 from the rival camp.

Tarlac Election SupervisorFernando Cot-om said there werereports of vote-buying in San Josetown and in Tarlac City, but heasked complainants to executeaffidavits so the Comelec couldinvestigate.In Nueva Ecij a, residents reportedthat vote-buying was rampant inseveral barangays. They said somecandidates for village chair haddistributed from P500 to P1 ,000 tovoters.

In Abra province, undercoverpolice officers documented casesof vote-buying in the towns ofDolores, Tayum and the capitaltown of Bangued, according toChief Supt. Benjamin Magalong,Cordillera police chief.In Mandaue City at 9 p.m. on

Sunday, the village of Alang-alangwas still abuzz.The doors of houses were opened.

Some residents had formed intosmall groups and were discussing

onwhom to vote.But theywere actually waiting fortheir political leaders to drop byand turn over their “pahalipay”(gratuity) that ranged from P50 toP100 each.In a family of six, three were givenP100 each stapled to a sampleballot that contained the names ofcandidates. The money was incrisp P50 bills.The political leader explained thatthe family members would have todivide the money amongthemselves since they could notgive money to everybody.

Earlier that day, two morepolitical leaders visited the village.One had P40 clipped to a sampleballot while the other had a crispP50 bill.

4 TheOLWSunOctober28, 2013

The Philippine National Police (PNP) hasrecorded a spike in election-related violence,PNP Public Information Chief ReubenTheodore Sindac told Radyo Inquirer 990AMMonday.“We have 64 incidents for this period alone-

September up to 1 1 p.m. of October 27, ofwhich 22 were killed,” Sindac said.In 2010, Sindac said there were only 25

recorded incidents, with fifteen people dead.At least 588 people have been arrested for

violating an elections gun ban, with policeconfiscating nearly 500 firearms, 4,000 roundsof ammunition, 1 91 knives and 68 grenades,said Sindac.

There are 6,21 6 areas of concern across thecountry, which is 1 4.7 percent of the 42,028villages nationwide, due to a history ofelectoral violence or attacks by Muslim andcommunist insurgents or al-Qaeda-linkedmilitants, said Sindac.Most of these areas are from the Autonomous

Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), SouthCentral Mindanao, Bicol Region, Ilocos Regionand EasternVisayas.In the ARMM, 1 ,567 police were deployed in

Lanao Del Sur, Maguindanao and Sulu. Ofthese, 722 were sent to Maguindanao toperform special election duties.“Our elections in the past have always been

marred by untoward incidents,” militaryspokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagalasaid, adding that government forces wouldguard against “spoilers to this democraticexercise.More than 800,000 candidates are vying for

chairmanships and other posts in urban andrural villages, locally called barangay(villages) — the Philippines’ smallest politicalunits, where violence and fraud are as much aconcern as they are in elections for higheroffice.

More than 54 million Filipinos haveregistered to cast their votes.

In the latest violence, unidentified menopened fire on a police car carrying anelections officer and policemen Sunday,setting off a gunbattle that wounded the pollofficial, two policemen and a civilian inPalanas town in central Masbate province,police said.Police arrested the son of a candidate for

village chairman and 16 other supporters,some of them armedwith shotguns and pistols,for allegedly threatening a rival candidate insouthern South Cotabato province, police said.

In the country’s worst election violence, 58members of a political clan and media workerswere ruthlessly shot to death in a 2009massacre allegedly plotted by a rival clan withits armed militias to maintain their politicalcontrol over southernMaguindanao province.The accused clan members have denied any

wrong-doing. Among the dead were at least 31media workers. It was the single worst killingof j ournalists in the world.Officials have postponed Monday’s elections

in central Bohol province, which wasdevastated by a strong earthquake on October1 5 that killedmore than 200 people.

Voting was also postponed in southernZamboanga city, where Muslim rebelsoccupied coastal villages and took scores ofresidents hostage in a three-week standoff lastmonth that killed more than 200 combatantsand civilians.

ByANNABELEROSARIO

Poll relatedviolenceup

It’sthemoney,powerandmoney,somejustrunforthetwowealthIt is a sad shame that some candidates just run formoney, money, money.Barangay elections used to be met with little or nofanfare, with most people only finding out thereare new officials when the walls of the barangayhall have been repainted with the winners’ names.Since the Local Government Code was enacted twodecades ago, however, barangay elections haveincreasingly become hotly contested politicalbattles, with rivals employing guns, goons, andgold to ensure their victory.One reason: the barangay chairperson holds the

power to handle the village's share of the InternalRevenue Allotment (IRA) , estimated at P68.3billion in 2014.

This year, Barangay 176 in Bagong Silang,

Caloocan City received P89.78 million in IRA, thelargest among all barangays nationwide, becauseit has over 245,000 residents.The opportunity to manage such a huge budget

may explain why eight candidates are vying tobecome the barangay chairman, while 93 areaspiring to become barangay kagawads inBarangay 176 when voters troop to the polls onOctober 28, according to figures provided by theCommission on Elections’ Caloocan office.They may be managing the smallest political unitin the country, but barangay officials still wieldenormous power. The barangay chairman, forinstance, is the only government official thatexercises executive, legislative, and judicialpowers.

As the village head, the barangay captain is thechief enforcer of all laws and ordinances. As chairof the Sangguniang Barangay, the barangaycaptain leads the crafting of the legislativeagenda. And as chair of the Lupong Tagapa-mayapa, the barangay captain has the power tosettle community disputes.

The lion's share of the funds utilized by the42,028 barangays nationwide come from the IRA,which represents the local government's annualshare from the proceeds of the national internalrevenue taxes, according to the Briefer onBarangayGood Governance by the DILG-NBOO.

So, I hope you voted today. You voted forcandidates that can really run your barangay andnot just for themoney and the power.

Morenews

It’sthemoney,powerandmoney,somejustrunforthetwowealthIt is a sad shame that some candidates just run formoney, money, money.Barangay elections used to be met with little or nofanfare, with most people only finding out thereare new officials when the walls of the barangayhall have been repainted with the winners’ names.Since the Local Government Code was enacted twodecades ago, however, barangay elections haveincreasingly become hotly contested politicalbattles, with rivals employing guns, goons, andgold to ensure their victory.One reason: the barangay chairperson holds the

power to handle the village's share of the InternalRevenue Allotment (IRA) , estimated at P68.3billion in 2014.

This year, Barangay 176 in Bagong Silang,

Caloocan City received P89.78 million in IRA, thelargest among all barangays nationwide, becauseit has over 245,000 residents.The opportunity to manage such a huge budget

may explain why eight candidates are vying tobecome the barangay chairman, while 93 areaspiring to become barangay kagawads inBarangay 176 when voters troop to the polls onOctober 28, according to figures provided by theCommission on Elections’ Caloocan office.They may be managing the smallest political unitin the country, but barangay officials still wieldenormous power. The barangay chairman, forinstance, is the only government official thatexercises executive, legislative, and judicialpowers.

As the village head, the barangay captain is thechief enforcer of all laws and ordinances. As chairof the Sangguniang Barangay, the barangaycaptain leads the crafting of the legislativeagenda. And as chair of the Lupong Tagapa-mayapa, the barangay captain has the power tosettle community disputes.

The lion's share of the funds utilized by the42,028 barangays nationwide come from the IRA,which represents the local government's annualshare from the proceeds of the national internalrevenue taxes, according to the Briefer onBarangayGood Governance by the DILG-NBOO.

So, I hope you voted today. You voted forcandidates that can really run your barangay andnot just for themoney and the power.

Results

Willbeupdatedwhen resultscome in

SupporterofMasbatebarangaybetshotdeadnearpollingprecinctMASBATE CITY, Philippines — Asupporter of a candidate in thebarangay (village) elections inMasbate was shot dead by asupporter of his candidate’s rival inMobo town on Monday afternoon, asketchy report reaching theprovincial police here said.Police Officer 1 Haidelyn Pimentel

Arevalo, spokesperson of theMasbate Provincial Police, quotingthe report from the Mobo MunicipalPolice, said that a certain LarryCanale, 49, a resident of BarangayBaang, Mobo, was killed at around1 :30 p.m. just outside the UmabayInterior Elementary School in Baag,which is used as polling precinct,while voting was going on insidethe school.Arevalo said the Mobo police have

reported that a resident of the samebarangay, named Richard “Andoy”Ramos, has been tagged in thekilling.She said the Mobo police learned

that the victim was a “die-hard”supporter of Bobby Zarsuelo, acandidate for barangay chairman ofBaang, who was running againstincumbent reelectionist barangay

chairman Samuel Bolon, whomsuspect Ramoswas supporting.

Arevalo said there was still noreport if the local police had locatedRamos and arrested him.

This was the second case ofelection-related violence reportedinMasbate over the last two days.On Sunday, the election officer of

Palanas town, two municipalpolicemen and their civiliancompanion were wounded afterthey were waylaid by a group ofarmed men while they werecommuting on board a Commissionon Election (Comelec) -owned carfrom a remote village to the townproper.

TheOLWSunOctober28, 2013 5

Amanwalksbyonaseaofposters bydifferentcandidates inBarangayKaunlaran.Morepicsinside

Moreelectionnewsandanalysis:pages2 to 14

6 TheOLWSunOctober28, 2013

Opinion

Willbeupdatedwhen resultscome in