2013 Midterm Election Results

The official results aren't in yet but it looks like Degamo will remain Governor, Sagarbarria will keep his post as Mayor and Maquiling takes over as Vice-Mayor; in my opinion, another sad day for Dumaguete. It is too bad; there were some really inspiring people running for these positions but the Dinosaurs managed to keep control. I guess, with the Catholic Church publically condemning Limkaichong, Degamo and Arbas because they supported the Reproductive Health Bill and with the money being thrown around by the older candidates in a region plagued by poverty and political ignorance, they didn't have much of a chance anyway. Oh well, maybe next time. In the meantime, we can only expect the status quo.

 

My wife said she heard that votes are being bought for around 500 peso each, i have no idea how many votes were talking about here but it sounds kinda expensive if you need to buy 1000s of votes.
But then again i have no idea how much money you can make/earn from being the "Top Dog" in Duma either.

 

In the past election, some local candidates would allegedly (have to watch your language when talking about politicians!!) pay P100 per voter. The person voting would have to show his / her vote to a "watcher" standing outside looking through the classroom window in order to collect their money. I saw people staring into each of the classrooms at City High School Voting area yesterday and they never moved away for the hour or so that we were there so possibly, this is still happening. There is a rumor circulating that one of the municipal candidates refinanced his house to pay for his election costs. If this is true, he would obviously have no chance of repaying the money with his winning salary so the money to pay back the lender would have to come from somewhere else!!!!! Maybe there is money to be made in local politics if you put your mind to it!

 

If there was no money to be made from it you can bet your last dollar there would be few candidates for "public service".

Larry

 

Sagarbarria won the election with almost double the votes of his opponent. This indicates the will of the people, not the result of bought votes. Those opponents who aspired for the offices they were running, obviously did not demonstrate or convince the people they were capable of administering the governance of their offices. The issue of the RH bill had no influence on the local elections, thus the Catholic Churches here in Negros should not be faulted for the outcome of our local elections.

 

Dear Paul2000, Josy, Alan Cordova and Arbas were all running under Team P'noy. All of those supporting P'noy suffered the wrath of the Catholic Church. I personally heard a priest at the Cathedral in Dumaguete asking Parishioners NOT to vote for Josy LimKaichong, Alan Cordova, and Joe Kenneth Arbas simply because they supported the RH Bill (whatever happened to separation of Church and State?). As far as money is concerned, if you believe that buying votes will not get you elected here, give me a few million and I could probably get elected myself without ever leaving my couch. I wish, however, that we did live in a more Utopian society, where the voting public weighed administrative competence, knowledge, leadership abilities, as well as party and personal platforms before casting their votes. However, we may have to wait out a few more elections before that happens.

 

There are none so blind as those who don't want to see.

 

To make matters worse, the Catholic Church basically oversaw the election with the use of the "Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)". I have heard stories of vote buying in Dumaguete by certain parties, right in the schoolyards / polling areas, directly under the eyes of the PPCRV personal without any reprisal, but any Liberal Party supporters monitoring the elections in the school yards were asked to leave the grounds because of possible illegal campaigning. I think we will see pictures coming out over the next few days showing some of the more obvious local infractions. I know the pictures exist but I am not yet sure if they will be used. I know there are protests being prepared.

 

Negros Oriental | Election Results | Eleksyon2013 | GMA News Online

Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental | Election Results | Eleksyon2013 | GMA News Online

 

Marking relief goods for earthquake victims with "Sa Probinsya, MagDegamo Ta" and hanging streamers with the same slogan on newly finished government buildings/projects that were started by previous administration really paid off for Degamo.