LEGAZPI CITY—The Provincial Prosecution Office has claimed its first victory in its campaign against vote-buying after the Regional Trial Court has found a woman from Bato town in Catanduanes province guilty of the act during the 2013 synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Election advocates led by Marcial Tuanqui, the former president of the Albay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, praised the decision and said it was one more reason to scrap the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, especially in Catanduanes where they said vote-buying and election fraud were rampant.
RTC Branch 43 Presiding Judge Lelu P. Contreras declared Susan Traqueña Palomer guilty beyond reasonable doubt of vote-buying as defined under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code, and sentenced her to imprisonment from two to four years without probation. Manilyn B. Ugalde
Palomer was likewise disqualified to hold public office and deprived of the right of suffrage.
Court records show that three witnesses testified that Palomer gave them P100 each, tucked into campaign flyers for barangay captain candidate Apolio Taroy, in the elections at Barangay Binanuahan in Bato town three years ago.
Palomer’s husband, Nestor, ran as barangay councilor under Taroy’s ticket. One of the witnesses, Rustom Asejo, was a brother of Taroy’s opponent for barangay chairman.
While Taroy denied knowing Susan Palomer and she denied knowing the witnesses, the court determined that Taroy provided the money she distributed to voters in the local polls. Only Palomer was singled out in the vote-buying complaint, however. Manilyn B. Ugalde
Advocates for the scrapping of barangay election and the abolition of Sanguniang Kabataan hailed a court decision in convicting a vote-buyer in the island Catanduanes believed to be the first of its kind in a country marred by massive vote buying during elections.
But the irony of all ironies the convicted vote buyer in a P100 bill she gave in exchange for a vote for a barangay executive bet turned out as a plain housewife of a village carpenter who like the millions of voters just willing to line-up in barangays to receive a tiny cash from corrupt politicians courting votes during election.
A small province with 11 towns, Catanduanes is noted of having an expensive local elections where a family of three voters even experienced of receiving a total of P15,000 citing the case of one Cesar Dellosa of Viga town who in a published report confessed that the first time he vote at age 18, he received a total of P7,000.
Catanduanes Regional Trial Court Branch 43 Judge Lelu Contreras convicted a woman in a vote-buying case during the 2013 synchronized barangay and sanggunian kabataan election according to a decision handed down on September 5.
The provincial prosecution office also described in pride its first victory in the campaign against the bane of vote buying every time election is held.
The court found Susan Traquena Palomer of Barangay Binanuahan, Bato, Catanduanes guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of vote buying as defined under Section 21 of the Omnibus Election Code and sentenced her to suffer imprisonment from two to four years without probation. In addition, Palomer was likewise disqualified to hold public office and deprived her the right of suffrage.
Court records showed that at about 6 am on Oct. 28, 2013 during the barangay and SK elections at Barangay Binanuahan, accused Palomer approached voter Alex Bobis and handed him a piece of campaign material stapled with P100 bill. The piece of campaign material had words which said “vote” for Apolio “Polo” Taroy for barangay captain followed by a line-up of candidates for barangay councils. The court said it’s no doubt the stapled P100 bill was to induce the voter to vote for the candidates appeared in the campaign leaflet.
Aside from Bobis, voters Elaine Martinez and Rostum Asejo also testified they received similar campaign leaflets with P100 bills with reminders from Palomer not to forget the names of candidates listed in the leaflets.
In her defense, Palomer who claimed she’s a mere housewife of a carpenter denied the vote buying accusations saying she had not even seen the witnesses during the election period.
The court records showed Taroy who was the candidate for barangay chairman and subject of the campaign leaflet with a P100 bill represented by accuse Palomer, however, denied Palomer was his ward leader adding he does not have money to buy votes. During the election, Taroy won the barangay chairmanship.
The court said it is convinced Taroy had provided Palomer the money to buy votes. Incidentally only Palomer was singled out in the vote-buying complaint.
An advocate for the abolition of SK and barangay election, Marcial Tuanqui, 70, former president of the Albay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it’s about time to scrap barangay elections and abolish SK. Tuanqui said that while the decision to convict vote buyers is a welcome development, however, I could only symphatize the isolated conviction of a poor village housewife in Catanduanes who is only a victim of election corruption where the real perpetrators are simply scotch free.