Philippine elections 2016 news: Watchdog says campaigns the 'most terrible' yet
A Philippine non-partisan organization that works to make sure the elections are held without fraud said this year's election campaign season has been the "most terrible" in the country so far.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, expressed disappointment at how the candidates have gone about their campaign strategies, resorting to "negative campaigning and rhetoric" and using "accusations and character assassinations" to their advantage.
Such strategies, PPCRV said, are confusing the voters.
"I'm sad to say that it's only now that we experienced this terrible campaigning. Never had there been a time when the elections have been subjected to such vicious campaigning," PPCRV head Henrietta de Villa said, as reported by UCA News.
PPCRV has actively participated in voters' education activities in Catholic communities in the Philippines. In the present election season, de Villa said it seems like the candidates need more education than the voters.
"It seems that good manners and right conduct don't matter anymore," she stated, adding that nothing else seems to matter but "to win at all cost."
With just a few days before the Philippine elections, the heat of the campaigns has intensified. Among the presidentiables alone, many issues have surfaced in the last two weeks.
One of them, Rodrigo Duterte, who has been leading the polls and has made international headlines because of his joke about a rape victim and comments about cutting ties with the U.S. and Australia, has been accused of having several bank accounts with billions of pesos. Duterte's appeal to the masses was that he lived a simple life and lived in a simple home unlike other government officials.
Recently, a senatorial candidate said he is filing charges against two presidential candidates, Grace Poe and Mar Roxas, on the basis of vote buying. Another presidential candidate, Jejomar Binay, is facing investigations for graft and corruption.
The Philippine elections 2016 will be held on Monday, May 9.
