Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
President Marcos on Monday, Oct. 30, advised Filipinos not to throw away their right to vote for their barangay leaders because they are the ones who will help them with their daily problems.
Marcos also told the voting public not to sell their votes as doing so will lose their chance to elect the barangay officials they really want.
“Kaya’t kung idadaan lang sa bayaran ay hindi kayo, mawawala ang boses ninyo (So if you choose to sell your vote, you’ll lose your voice),” he said in an interview with reporters after casting his vote at his precinct at Mariano Marcos Elementary School in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
“Hindi ninyo maipili kung sino ba ang dapat ba talaga na mamuno dyan sa inyong barangay, at sino ba ang makakatulong sa inyo na harapin ang mga problema na araw-araw na hinaharap ninyo, na dinadala ninyo sa mga barangay official (You won’t elect those who really deserve to lead your barangay and those who will really help you with your daily problems that you bring to your officials),” he added.
Marcos acknowledged that vote buying remains rampant, that is why the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are doing their best to stop them, especially in hotspot areas.
He assured Filipinos that the government would also do its part to enforce all laws that prohibit vote-buying as part of the campaign. — Joseph Pedrajas
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
