Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general elections are held  for its  regional governor, vice-governor and  members of the  Regional Legislative Assembly on August 11, 2008.

 Some candidates who are politicians are ready to take the leadership by all means.  They buy their way to power through “vote buying.”

 Vote buying in its literal sense is perceived as a simple economic exchange. Candidates “buy” and citizens “sell” votes, as they buy and sell apples, shoes,  or radio sets.  The act of vote buying by their outlook is a contract  in which votes sell their votes to the uppermost bidder.

In the Philippines in general, electoral process actually entails time, money and supporters.  This situation develops certain attitude among the people in selecting their leaders.  For example, some do not vote unless they are given gifts, bonuses and money; others are no longer interested to cast their votes for they know that candidates who resort to bribery and coercion can obtain more votes and may be subsequently elected to office.  Until finally, the electoral process lost its value to most people.

In other words, elections have been ridden with violence and massive frauds.      Some politicians used to bargain, persuade, coerce, bribe, buy and manipulate votes. led to conflicts, disputes, and killings in their respective  areas.

More chances are always given to those candidates  who have means and resources. Who are these people? Some believe that they are mostly traditional politicians or a new politicians who used to adopt the political strategies of the former. They wish to wield  power by occupying key positions in the government using their  means and resources to buy their way to power.

Thus, politicians from any sector of a society can hardly  win in an election if they are poor and do not have the resources. This is quite true because political  ever-spending during poll campaign has become a norm in the electoral process and laws are not enough to check it.

This observation shows the importance of money and other resources for politicians are buying their way to power.  The new breed honest politicians, who are not rich, encounter difficulties in assuming leadership in the political scene.

The continuity of this problem in the election has triggered numerous problems causing the county’s stagnation.  For instance, for the period of more than 50 years in Lanao Sur and Marawi City , the people’s need for socio-economic and political development have not been realized.  This situation has greatly motivated concerned people to actively participate in the electoral process.

Therefore, it is about time for concerned and honest leaders and intellectuals to make electoral reforms because if politicians buy their way to power, they are expected to recover their expenses through graft.  There is indeed a need to formulate  strategy for voters education in view of the ARMM election.

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