Philippine Alliance of Xseminarians (PAX) Advocacy on Anti-vote Buying / Anti-vote selling.

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When the sacred right of suffrage is reduced to an ordinary Contract of Sale, it destroys the essence of a truly democratic nation. As in any sale, The object of transaction is not always cash. It can be its equivalent. Offers include food, clothes, household goods, medicine, infrastructure, construction material, agricultural inputs and the provision of other services.

Voters may also be granted access to social programs or other
public services in exchange for their vote; they may also be threatened with deprivation of benefits if they do not vote as instructed.

The electoral process becomes a business venture where what is at stake is no longer the common good but a private self-interest.

This perspective produces another crime, the malversation and misuse of public funds to finance vote purchases. As vote buying and selling becomes entrenched in the political culture of a country, the buyer is encouraged to look for more resources to fuel the activity, regardless of cost.

Thus we have vote buying candidates who are often financially backed by drug syndicates, gambling lords, and influential businessmen and some government officials who are happy to provide funds in exchange for protection, influence, business profitability and similar vested interests. And we still wonder why organized crime appears to be proliferating in the Philippines?

Since vote buying compromises the secrecy vote and freedom of the voter, it necessarily relegates public accountability and undermines democracy.

If we allow this malady to continue unabated, this may lead to despair and the total breakdown of a just society.

PAX recognizes the urgency to initiate concrete steps to eradicate vote buying and vote selling. PAX recognizes that this is the original sin of graft and corruption.

We appeal to our youth, all non-government organizations and people’s advocacy groups, to the men and women in the government and the private sector, rise and be at the forefront in this crusade to restore decency and to heed the signs of the times. Let us unite to impose the highest penalty to vote buying and vote selling.

Philippine Alliance of Xseminarians (PAX)
July12, 2009