Vote-buying binge

WHILE the Supreme Court’s ruling that Sen. Grace Poe be sustained as a qualified candidate for the presidency surprised many legal minds the High Court’s decision to granting the Gordon petition to issue receipts for the automated voting turned out to be more problematic.

The added feature will help ensure that only votes cast will be counted. What created a major concern, however, is the reality that, indeed, more candidates will be inclined to resort to vote-buying since there is now a fool-proof tool to get value for their money. Hence, translate that into massive vote-buying in 2016 elections, and finding more bankrupt candidates even before the canvassing begins.

But the seemingly chaotic situation should not simply be accepted. Surely, Comelec can still be expected to be creative enough to stop the anticipated worst vote-buying binge in the country’s political history. To require voters to drop their receipts in one place is a good beginning, but surely there can be more.

Filipinos have been creative in the past in making things difficult, this is one time when that habit will stand in good stead for a change.

 

SC slaps Comelec twice

SLAPPED twice by the Supreme Court last week was the Comelec.  First, the SC overturned Comelec’s decision to disqualify Sen. Grace Poe from the presidential election.  Second, the SC rejected the Comelec’s verdict not to issue a receipt to every voter casting his ballot on May 9.

Recall that on Dec. 1, 2015, the Comelec 2^nd Division unanimously disqualified Poe to uphold a petition by GSIS chief lawyer Estrella Elamparo.  And on Dec. 11, 2015, the Comelec 1st Division also disqualified Poe to similarly uphold the combined petitions of DLSU Professor Antonio Contreras, former Sen. Francisco Tatad and former UE College Law Dean Amado Valdez.

On March 8, the High Court tossed both Comelec rulings out the window. If that is not a double whammy for the Comelec, the country’s supposed expert on all election matters, what is?

What has become of the Comelec’s vaunted election wisdom led by Chairman Andy Bautista?  If one is rebuffed twice on two major issues, what could be the High Court’s message to the Filipino people? Our Comelec has become incompetent, unintelligent?

If our Comelec commissioners should all decide to resign, they’d be justified.

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