EDITORIAL - Gauge of integrity
Two days before the start of the official campaign period for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, a candidate for village council member or kagawad was gunned down in the town of Bucay in Abra. Catalino Turalba Sr. was on a motorcycle with his son on their way to their barangay on Tuesday morning when two men on another motorcycle tailed them and opened fire. Turalba died in a hospital. His assailants are at large.
Armed violence is just the worst of the problems undermining the integrity of the BSKE. As the campaign kicks off today, the Commission on Elections has reiterated its reminder to candidates to avoid acts that constitute vote buying as well as other violations of election laws.
On Oct. 10, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued a memorandum to BSP-supervised financial institutions, “strongly” calling for the adoption of “enhanced surveillance and monitoring measures to prevent the misuse of financial institutions” for vote buying and selling. The memorandum was issued amid reports that online banking and mobile wallet applications were being used for buying votes.
All BSP-supervised financial institutions are required to submit suspicious transaction reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Council. Compliance remains to be seen, however, especially if the country’s tough bank secrecy laws are invoked.
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections, for its part, is urging the public to report cases of abuse of state resources by incumbent officials, including those in local government, to campaign for BSKE candidates. This could be tricky as the Comelec has authorized the continuing distribution of emergency subsidies to certain sectors even during the brief campaign period, and local executives can find numerous events or activities for raising the public profile of their preferred candidates. Barangay officials are supposed to be non-partisan, but they have the right to join political parties.
People may need more reminders from the Comelec about which acts may constitute violations of election laws and rules. Public vigilance can stop the display of campaign materials such as posters and streamers outside Comelec-designated spots, especially
