Vote Buying Leads to Surge in Mobile Phone and Meat Purchases in Surigao del Sur

According to an article in the Daily Inquirer an increase in mobile phone sales in Surigao del Sur is directly tied to vote buying.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1597711/vote-buying-spree-drives-mobile-phone-sales

Mobile phones are selling like hotcakes after the May 9 general elections, thanks to local politics.

For two straight days after the polls, many of the popular mobile phone brands were sold out in the three shopping malls in this province as residents from the neighboring towns of Tagbina, Barobo, and Lianga in Surigao del Sur province went on a shopping frenzy.

They practically stormed the Gaisano Grand Mall, Gaisano Capital, and Davao Central Warehouse on Tuesday and Wednesday, openly joking about their windfall from the vote-buying spree involving some politicians running for congressional and provincial posts.

A salesman at a mobile phone store in Gaisano Grand said his shop sold at least 180 units of Vivo and Real Me brands in the two days following the polls.

He said there were stalls in the mall that also sold mobile phones and which experienced brisk sales until the items ran out of stock.

Mobile phone stores at Gaisano Capital, at Davao Central Warehouse, and at the town center also had a surge in sales.

Most of the brands in demand sold at P6,000 to P7,000 per unit.

Apart from mobile phone stores, other commercial establishments including restaurants became crowded on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Toto Banas, the owner of a meat store at the public market, said his supply was sold out by noon.

According to Macario Angelia, a resident of Lianga, rival camps in his province were buying votes at P2,500 to P3,500 per voter.

He said more cash went around as Election Day was approaching, with some candidates handing out an extra P500, also called “tili-tili,” or “drizzle,” to each voter.

One candidate in this town gave out P1,200 in four batches, which voters jokingly called doses, the first two being primary and the last two being booster doses.

Another candidate gave out P1,000 each to voters.

In Zamboanga del Sur, voters were offered P3,000 to P5,000 in exchange for voting an entire local slate from governor to municipal or city councilors.

The distribution started on Saturday, two days before Election Day.

Many put up with about five hours of waiting in line for their “ulan-ulan” from one camp, then they would queue in another political camp the next day.

But police in the provincial capital of Pagadian City thwarted a vote-buying operation on Election Day itself, seizing P50,000 in cash in a raid at the Pavilion Building of the provincial government in Barangay Dao.

According to their report, the 50 P1,000 bills confiscated by the police came with sample ballots of reelectionist Gov. Victor Yu and his local slate. But nobody was arrested in the raid as the people inside the building fled when the police arrived.

On the eve of Election Day, police in Dumingag town, also in Zamboanga del Sur, raided a health center in Barangay Dulop, arrested two women and confiscated bundles of envelopes which contained cash amounting to P1.93 million.

Maj. Mark Gerome Nebria, Dumingag police chief, said each envelope had P2,500 in cash. Also seized from the suspects were a list of voters with their precinct numbers.

Mobile phones as well as meat supplies have been sold out because the public, with a hefty infusion of cash from vote buying politicians, has gone on a frenzied shopping spree. The police arrested two women and confiscated envelopes of cash amounting to P1.93 million! That's a lot of phones and meat. This is all part of the tried and true tradition of vote buying. Everybody knows this happens. Even the Vice President Leni Robredo acknowledges it happens. She said take the money!

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/26/Robredo-on-vote-buying-2022-elections.html

Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday gave a piece of advice for Filipinos who may encounter vote buying ahead of the 2022 polls.

Asked about the issue during a forum hosted by Kasambahay for Leni, Robredo said voters can opt to take the money — but reminded them to still pick candidates based on their conscience.

"Alam mo, mali siya. Mali iyong pagbibili ng boto," Robredo stressed. "Pero iyong sinasabi ko sa tao, tanggapin niyo. Tanggapin niyo kasi galing din naman iyan sa atin. Iyong pinambibili ng boto, pera din iyan ng taumbayan...tatanggapin mo pero ang iboboto mo kung sino iyong nasa konsensya mo."

[Translation: You know, it's wrong. Vote buying is wrong. But what I tell people is, accept it. I tell them to accept it because that's public money. Accept it, but still vote for the candidate based on your conscience.]

Go on take the money and run, hoo hoo hoo! How about don't do that?? It's more than a great big hassle. It encourages these thieves and it stains your conscience. A mobile phone is not worth the price of your soul. Now the COMELEC has piped in and said the increase in mobile phone sales is NOT related to vote buying.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174493

The surge in mobile phone sales in Surigao del Sur cannot be automatically attributed to vote-buying, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Sunday.

Acting Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said reports that popular mobile phone brands were sold out in three shopping malls in the towns of Tagbina, Barobo, and Lianga should not be linked to poll-related violations.

“Coming not from the Comelec but coming from siguro(perhaps) a lawyer’s point of view, the escalation of the purchases in itself does not automatically mean anomalies or crimes,” he said in a press briefing.

Escalation of purchases cannot even be considered a crime.

“In fact, hindi nga po krimen eh (It’s not a crime). Kung ganyan po kasi na mayroong pagbabawal sa escalation ng (of) purchases, dapat naging krimen (If there are prohibition on the escalation of purchases, then it should be a crime) but it’s not a crime,” he added.

It could be that the escalation of purchases is not related to vote buying but this argument is terrible! Escalation of purchases is not a crime? No kidding! It's not a mere escalation in purchases that is the issue. It's the sustained buying frenzy right after the elections amidst accusations of vote buying. The COMELEC does not get it. Not only are expensive phones being sold out but so is meat! Why is that happening? How have the people suddenly become so wealthy? Is it merely a coincidence that the election has concluded and sales are up, especially considering the history this nation has with vote buying? How can anyone be expected to "respect the results" of any election when they are tainted with more than the whiff of corruption?