Daily Prompt: Morphing / Vultures

Come May 13, Filipinos will go out and vote for the country’s new set of senators and local government officials. It is at this point that “Vultures” hover around and are reportedly growing in number as the national election day nears. “Vulture” is my term for “vote-buyers” who are out to prey on literally the hungry and perhaps “dying” or those who’d for a day or two would be able to fill their stomach in by receiving the dough vote-buyers are giving away outlandishly. Return of Investment is in their hindsight should they win in the elections, unfortunately receivers think only of the present, and of themselves quite forgetting that the country’s future is at stake!

Nevertheless, I do believe that there are those who are intelligent enough to take the dough, and vote for the ones they really like from other camp, a risk any vote-buyers are now taking. The amount being given away are said to have inflated from a few hundreds to several thousands of pesos. Yesterday, fake monies were retrieved from a political candidate down South. Those who used to benefit were dishonest members of the Board of Election Inspectors, and “buy-able” individuals directly handling the manual counting of ballots. Now, there are more people to “buy” because of the automated election. Bad for the politicians but automation is quite good for the populace who really want change.

Vote-buying is gross and disgusting but a reality now quite commonplace, the very reason why the Commision on Election’s Chairman Sixto Brillantes thought of the so-called “Money Ban’ which would limit anyone from withdrawing over a hundred thousand pesos. Of course, his group’s ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court; even the President was against it because of the cry of the business sector. Vote-buying is the very stuff media people have increasingly been reporting from several days back, and more so today being the last day of the election campaign. And all these despite the never-ending pronouncements of the incumbent Philippine President Benigno Aquino III for his “matuwid na daan” or the straight path in life and governance.

Oh yes! Being a registered voter, I got an invitation myself to receive “that” something from a local candidate…I didn’t join the queue of qualified voters out of principle and self-respect!

VoteS / Vote-buyerS/ VultureS. Very SAD!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/daily-prompt-morphing/

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