To win in an election

As summer continues to heat up the country, so does politics. Rally after rally is being conducted, all aimed at enticing voters. Radio and TV broadcasts are coming out with annoying frequency. Who will it be? What's the favored party? PNoy's Liberal Party or Binay's UNA?

Rallies may perhaps drive one towards a certain choice. But there's something more effective than these: Logistics - and you know what I mean.

It may be illegal and immoral, but buying votes has become a pervasive practice in this country's political game. The belief that every voter has a price is an accepted truism and woe to an idealist who takes this thing lightly. He is sure to be shellacked at the polls.

Vote buying is negotiated in many ways. The most common is doing it directly in the family through the pater de familia, especially one who is a supporter of the opposite party or candidates. The amount? This depends upon how influential the person is and his family and how many electors therein. It also depends on the "market price" in the area. If it's P1,000 per head, then a family with five voters gets P5,000, which translates into about 150 kilos of rice.

Certainly, for a middle-income family, this amount is not attractive enough. But for a low-income one whose breadwinner earns roughly about 12 thousand pesos, it is a tempting offer. And since most voters belong to low-income level, their choice therefore prevails. For candidates who have a strong grassroots organization, a "coordinator" is tasked to do the distribution of the goodies (for known supporters) and to "buy" the votes of the undecided.

Transporting voters to polling places is of course a tacit form of vote buying. But this is done openly and is an accepted practice, especially in the countryside where residents have to hike for some kilometers to reach their precincts. Transport services plus snacks (or free meals in some rural towns or barangays) are available for "friendly" electors, if only to make them happy enough to make the candidates happy too.

What about the conscience voters? You might ask. Yes, there are voters with conscience and conviction. But their number is minimal and has no effect as to who gets voted on. In a recent survey, eight out of 10 Filipinos said they would accept bribe money from politicians but not necessarily vote for them. These respondents might have told the truth about accepting money but saying that they may not vote for the giver is only a half-truth. They may not be conscience voters but Filipinos cannot detach themselves from "utang-na-loob" and therefore we know who their choice would be.

What about the Catholic Church, what's its stand on vote buying? Years ago, when about this matter, a well-respected archbishop said accept the money but vote following your conscience.

Voting with conscience, however, seems easier said than done. To an unemployed (or underemployed) breadwinner, conscience is seldom factored in in his decision at the polls. It is what he gets from his vote that counts. Which reminds us of St. Thomas Aquinas who said that a modicum of material comfort is necessary for the practice of virtue.

This explains why in this country political leadership has become a monopoly of the top 10 percent of the population or of the moneyed few. From time to time a middle-class fellow may get elected to a local or even national office, but this happens only if his or her contender is also of comparable income level, or if he or she gets the patronage of a big-time politician.

Are you wondering why no key leader has successfully wiped out poverty in this country? The reason is that his heart does not beat in synch with the poor man's heart. Besides, who would want to sell votes if people are well off?