Ka Leody cries foul over fellow aspirant’s campaign material sabotage
MANILA, Philippines — Destruction of campaign materials could have been avoided if only the elections were not reliant on poll bets’ “war chest,” according to Labor leader and senatorial candidate Leody “Ka Leody” de Guzman.
De Guzman’s comment came after his fellow senatorial aspirant Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan called on other bets to fight fairly since some of the latter’s campaign volunteers in Valenzuela City complained that their posters and materials were destroyed.
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“Mali na nagiging kalakaran ang paninira ng materyales, lugi ang mga kandidatong limitado ang resources gaya namin ni Luke (Espiritu). Pero manipestasyon lang ito ng tunay na problema sa sistemeng elektoral sa bansa,” said De Guzman in a statement on Monday.
(It is wrong that the destruction of materials is becoming a trend, candidates with limited resources like Luke (Espiritu) and I are losing out. But this is just a manifestation of the real problem with the electoral system in the country.)
De Guzman said it seems that only the “rich and famous” candidates have access to “avail themselves of primetime television and radio advertisements, thousands of billboards across the country, giveaways such as t-shirts, calendars and caps,”
He added that “the influence of money, patronage, and dynasties undermines the integrity of elections, making it difficult for genuine leaders from grassroots movements to thrive.”
“Ang mandato ng Commission on Election (Comelec) ay gawing clean at fair ang eleksyon para ito’y maging credible pero hindi ito mangyayari hanggat hindi decisively magstep in ang Comelec para tunay na ilevel yung playing field,” he said.
(The mandate of the Commission on Election (Comelec) is to make the elections clean and fair so that they are credible, but this will not happen until the Comelec decisively steps in to truly level the playing field.)
“Hindi pwedeng individually unlimited ang sourcing ng campaign funds. Tandaan natin, na kapag malaki ang ginastos sa kampanya, wala itong ibang paraan para bawiin ang kanyang ginastos kundi mangurakot o tumanggap ng lobby money sa mga malalaki at dayuhang mga korporasyon,“ he warned.
(The sourcing of campaign funds cannot be individually unlimited. Let us remember that when a campaign spends a lot, it has no other way to recover its expenses but to embezzle or accept lobby money from large and foreign corporations.)
To avoid this, De Guzman suggested that Comelec and the government should cover the expenses of the entire electoral process. He claimed that this would give the candidates equal footing in their campaign-related endeavors.
