Manila: Vice President Jejomar Binay batted for state financing for political parties in a bid to reform elections in the Philippines.
Speaking to delegates of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Community of Practice Meeting in Electoral Cycle Support in Asia, Binay said the Philippines should continue its electoral reforms, given the turnkey action to automate the 2010 polls.
The Vice President further said that state financing for political candidates was another key to electoral reform.
“I strongly favour state financing for political candidates, a system that is practiced in many parts of the world,” he told delegates attending the conference at a hotel in Manila.
“State subsidy will greatly reduce the dependence of a national candidate on campaign donations, and by reducing dependence we greatly minimize opportunity for campaign donors to exact certain privileges and payment for their contributions,” he added.
Past elections in the Philippines had been characterised by electoral fraud, voter intimidation and bribery. In 2010, this changed as the country held its first nationwide automated elections.
Binay said the automation of the 2010 national elections was a key factor in restoring the people’s faith in the country’s election system. “Both [President Benigno Aquino III] and I ascended to power on the wings of a major electoral reform – the automation of the 2010 presidential elections,” Binay said.
“For decades, the delay in the proclamation of winning candidates have caused not only anxiety and distress both on the local and national levels, it has also provided opportunities for election manipulators to tamper with election results,” he added.
According to Binay, initial fears about the accuracy and the liability of the automated elections have been dispelled, with the country welcoming and accepting the results of the 2010 elections.
