By Ritchie A Horario/Manila Times
Mayoral candidate Rica Tinga of Taguig City yesterday accused her archrival and incumbent Mayor Lani Cayetano of engaging in vote buying.
Tinga said that Cayetano could be charged for vote buying because she distributed P36mn worth of “educational” vouchers to 7,000 high school graduates.
She said Cayetano should be made to explain where she sourced the funds for the vouchers, which the city government earlier said was part of the mayor’s scholarship programme, Lifeline Assistance for Neighbours In-Need.“It is clearly vote buying. The law defines vote buying as giving of anything of value to obtain the vote of the recipient for or against a candidate,” Tinga said.She added: “The voucher is actually a gift certificate timed for election purposes.”
Since public funds are involved, Tinga pointed out that any taxpayer in Taguig may file a case against the city officials questioning the P36mn disbursement.
On Monday, Cayetano, wife of Sen Alan Peter Cayetano, handed out educational vouchers worth P5,000 each to 7,242 high school graduates.
The second-term mayor said that the vouchers would serve as a start-up fund for those wanting to enroll in college, or pursue technical-vocational courses.
“Through these education vouchers, we hope parents would be motivated to send their kids to college,” the incumbent Taguig mayor said when sought for comment.