The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Tuesday, Oct. 31, urged lawmakers to add “teeth” to the vote-buying law after seeing the rampant vote-buying schemes used during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) election.

“Ang gusto namin sana namin ng isang batas against vote-buying. Batas ba na may ngipin, a law with teeth, yung sinasabi natin meron siyang pwersa na pwede siya mag-convict at magbigay ng penalty,” PPCRV Spokesperson Ana de Villa-Singson told DZRH in an interview.

“Kasi wala tayong law talaga with penalties on vote-buying right now at saka sobrang laganap,” she added.

The PPCRV Spokesperson also expressed her shock after finding out a first-hand experience of a priest’s assistant who received a whopping amount of money during the barangay, SK polls yesterday, Oct. 30.

“Ito personal na experience ng assistant ng isang pari. Nakatayo lang siya doon kasi nagmamasid, as in binibigyan na lang siya [at] nilalagay lang sa kamay niya [yung pera]. 2 hours lang siya doon, naka-abot siya ng P11,200. Hindi sa NCR, sa probinsya po, but nakaka-shock,” De Villa-Singson recalled.

“We have to make vote buying convictable kasi wala naman po tayong batas eh ang hirap-hirap mag-prove ng vote buying ngayon [since] ang daming elements,” she added.

Under Section 261(a) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), vote-buying and vote-selling are prohibited acts punishable by imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years.

The guilty person also stands to lose their right of suffrage and receive a disqualification to hold public office.

‘Fix special priority lane’

De Villa-Singson lauded the respect received by the PPCRV volunteers of almost 250,000 for helping registered voters find their respective precinct numbers and physically bringing them to the area if needed during the BSK elections.

The PPCRV Spokesperson, however, called for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to fix the special priority lane for Persons With Disability (PWDs), senior citizens, and pregnant women.

“Meron kaming special concern para sa mga PWDs. In fact medyo masama ang loob namin [...] Napansin lang namin na hindi na-uphold yung batas na dapat may special priority lane for PWDs, senior citizens, at pregnant women sa lahat ng polling centers,” she said.