‘But who knows — this time around maybe a candidate will make me an offer I cannot refuse? Then I’ll know what my vote is worth!’
I ASKED two acquaintances who are planning to run as captains of their respective barangays whether the exercise was going to cost them, and how much.
Their replies surprised — and saddened — me.
One was planning to run in a barangay with 16,000 voters, while the other was running in a much smaller one with 6,000 voters but both of them agreed: the “going rate” that a voter was expecting to receive was P1,000. “One thousand!” I exclaimed, surprised because I asked if P200 or P250 was enough. Then I did a quick math: if you want to win a simple majority in a barangay of 6,000 voters then try to get, say, 3,500 voters on your side. At the “going rate” that meant having P3.5 million in cold cash ready.
If you’re in the bigger barangay, then you need to collar about 8,500 or 9,000 voters. So that will set you (or your backers) back by P8.5 million or even P9 million.
Oh, and you have to give to every voter you are targeting, including your very own relatives! Apparently, money is thicker than blood during elections and if you don’t give to your relatives, you may lose their votes to the rival who is generous.
Imagine that. Retail democracy at a time of inflation.
The two gentlemen I spoke to are from the Visayas, from a city of arguably less progressive province than say Cebu or Iloilo. So now you can imagine what a candidate for Cebu barangay captain is “expected to spend” to improve his chances of winning. Go further: imagine what it will cost a candidate in a barangay in NCR!
This is what has happened to our democracy at the very grassroots, which only the naive or the outright liars among us will deny. It is the answer to why ours has remained a country full of promises never fulfilled, and opportunities never maximized, at least for the ordinary man on the street. The political system is so warped I really don’t know how it can be reformed from the inside, or even from the outside, if at all.
And so it is also the answer to the question why so many decent men and women tune out when it comes to politics. Which unfortunately has the consequence of leaving the stage to the scoundrels.
Then again, I’ve never been offered money for my vote. Just like I’ve never been polled for the numerous opinion surveys that claim to tell us what the pulse of the public is. So does that make both the claim of money controlling our politics and surveys being manipulated much less valid?
I don’t think so.
But who knows — this time around maybe a candidate will make me an offer I cannot refuse? Then I’ll know what my vote is worth!
