Bloc voting on May 10 mostly benefits Noynoy Aquino

If the 2010 elections are a gauge, bloc voting is alive and well in the Philippines. According to an analysis of the GMA election tally, over 90 percent of voters in 326 clustered precincts around the country had the same choice for president. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino was by far the main beneficiary of this voting pattern, with 164 clustered precincts in 19 provinces and the national capital region voting nearly 100% for the presumptive winner of the presidential race. At least 54 precincts voted almost exclusively for former president Joseph Estrada, while 67 and 61 precincts, respectively, went nearly 100 percent for Gibo Teodoro and Manny Villar.

Bloc voting in the Philippines has traditionally occurred as a so-called "command vote," such as when the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) formally endorsed Aquino and instructed its flock to vote for him and candidates for other positions who got its blessing. Powerful clans could also dictate how their members will vote. This doesn't come as a surprise to political analyst Ramon Casiple of the Institute of Political and Electoral Reform. "Usually hawak yan ng isang political dynasty o clan. Dapat din tignan kung sino ang politikong may hawak sa mga areang iyan. Usually controlled iyan (A political dynasty or clan is usually in control. You should look into who's the dominant politician in those areas. Usually, they're controlled)," he says. Casiple adds, however, that bloc voting —when a group decides to vote for the same candidates for numerous positions— is not illegal in itself. To better establish where bloc-voting has occurred, it should also be determined whether most of the voters for a precinct also voted for the same candidates for vice president, senator, and even local posts. Command voting in Mindanao At least three-quarters of the 326 clustered precincts identified by GMANews.TV are in Mindanao. More than 100 are located in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Basilan, Sulu, Maguindanao, and Tawi-Tawi —all provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM. ARMM provinces have been notorious for election irregularities, as evidenced by the "Hello Garci" scandal in 2004 and the "Lintang Bedol" case in the 2007 elections. In 2007, the administration ticket had a suspiciously clean sweep of the senatorial posts in several towns in Maguindanao.

Senators Noynoy Aquino and Manny Villar, as well as former President Joseph Estrada are the candidates who have benefited the most from what is believed to be 'bloc voting.' Click the photo for the complete list. GMANews.TV

A recent study by the Social Weather Stations found command voting to be "more visible in areas farther away from the capital," and peaking in Mindanao. Last April, the SWS asked 2,400 respondents across the country to say whether people in their community independently decide whom to vote for, or are just told whom to vote for by local leaders. In Mindanao, 22 percent said the latter, as compared to 17 percent in the Visayas, 14 percent in Balance Luzon, and 12 percent in Metro Manila. Iglesia ni Cristo command voting Other areas that voted nearly unanimously for a single candidate were communities predominantly belonging to Iglesia ni Kristo. Recently, netizens raised suspicions over the election results shown in several clustered precincts in Rodriguez, Rizal. Facebook user Noelle Velasquez from Rodriguez, Rizal posted a note on her Facebook account in which she questioned why nearly all the voters in five precincts in her hometown had all voted for Senator Noynoy Aquino for president. Each precinct had about 700 votes. The note was spread around and reposted on the fanpage of GMANews.TV numerous times by voters worried that the improbable results may be an indication of election fraud. GMANews.TV went to Rodriguez, Rizal and found out that the said precincts are actually located within the Pamayanan ng Tagumpay (Victory Town), a housing settlement for members of INC. The religious group endorsed the Aquino-Roxas tandem just a few days before the May 10 elections and is considered one of the largest bloc votes in Philippine elections. Frendy del Rosario of the municipal board of canvassers in Rodriguez tells GMANews.TV that most of the residents inside the gated subdivison work at the INC Central Office along Commonwealth Avenue in Barangay Tandang Sora. "Dahil iyan sa bloc voting at dati nang ganyan sila [bumoto], kahit nung mga nakaraang election (Results like that are due to bloc voting. It's been like that ever since, even in past elections)," del Rosario says. Based on the statement of votes (SOV) per precinct in Rodriguez, the same candidates getting almost 100 percent of the votes was observed in five clustered precincts, which according to del Rosario are polling places for residents of the Pamayanan ng Tagumpay. These clustered precincts (CP) are CP 110, 111, 112, 113, and 114. In the mayoral race, candidate Cecilio Hernandez received all the votes in CPs 112 (738 votes) and 113 (746 votes), while his three rivals all got zero. In CP 114, Hernandez still got all the votes (796) except for three voters who voted for Michael Cuerpo. In CPs 110 and 111, three voters and a voter, respectively, voted for Cuerpo, while the rest voted for Hernandez (709 and 661 respectively). "Kahit bloc voting iyan. Alam mo na, may ilang hindi sumusunod (Even if the group is known to practice bloc voting, there are some members who still defy)," del Rosario says in explaining several votes that went to Cuerpo. Residents within Tagumpay Village declined to go on the record to explain their voting choices. However, one of the three security guards manning the entrance of the gated subdivision explains, “Hindi kami nakikialam diyan [sa issue ng so-called religious votes]. Basta kami boboto lang tapos iyon na 'yun. Wala nang halong pulitika-pulitika pa.(We don't concern ourselves with religious votes. We just vote and that's that. There's no politics involved.)" - TJD/HS, GMANews.TV