As a Filipino, I have not only the constitutional right of suffrage but also the duty to choose the leaders whom I believe can do best for our people and homeland. And I practice this right based on my faith.
If I campaign for a candidate or vote for him, especially in Lanao, it is my personal choice. It is not for a fee or fear of coercion but my conscientious decision based on independent understanding, for I don't sell my vote, nor give-in to coercion.
I am one of those who condemn ‘vote-buying’ and 'vote-selling' and I detestfully abhore intimidation.
It is not the act of giving nor the act of receiving that I condemn in 'vote-buying'. Rather, it is the intention of getting the money that begets bad consequence/s. For whether we like it or not, candidates who buy votes will reimburse from the public coffer at his disposal after winning.
If a person can survive without receiving the money of a corrupt candidate in exchange for his vote, then that person better not get the candidate’s money. After all, once that candidate wins, he will be directly or indirectly part of the candidate’s sins or crime.
By this context, what we mean by corrupt are not only those incumbents who have been tried and tested during their terms but have not made our locality like Lanao del Sur improved, making it as the poorest province in the country.
But we also mean those candidates who have tainted personality either as government officials or private individuals ought not to be voted for. They will just follow the the footsteps of the corrupt elected politicians.
So take sides in the elections, voting for those whom you think can improve the lot of our people and our homeland, not because they buy your votes. I am sure that is what Islam enjoins us to do. MNY