Fund raising season

’Tis the season – not just to be merry for the holidays, but also to raise funds for election campaigns. In the past, members of the Tsinoy community had warned that kidnapping for ransom usually spiked when elections approached. Security officials have also warned that crimes against property, including robberies of banks and armored vans, went up during campaigns.

In the past week, as the deadline lapsed for the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2019 midterm elections, security officials warned that certain armed groups planned to launch kidnapping and extortion activities to raise funds for the campaigns of certain politicians in the Zamboanga peninsula. In some cases, the Abu Sayyaf could be involved, the officials warned.

Abu Sayyaf bandits have long been suspected of sharing the ransom they collected from their kidnapping activities with local politicians and military officers particularly in Sulu and Basilan. It’s not farfetched that the bandits would help in the election campaigns of their friends in government.

Communist rebels are also suspected of helping certain politicians in election campaigns. Being tagged as a terrorist organization has considerably reduced foreign funding for the communist insurgency. The New People’s Army has been extorting “revolutionary taxes” for a long time from wealthy businessmen and marginalized farmers alike. During elections, NPA rebels also collect “permit to campaign fees” from candidates, and harass the rivals of their preferred bets.

Officials have urged the public not to give in to extortion, but this is possible only if the targeted victims are assured of protection from retaliation. Security officers will have to step up efforts to keep communities safe from armed groups that use the threat of violence to influence the vote.

The government has been going after narco politicians even before the filing of candidacies. Authorities, however, must also intensify the fight against other forms of illegal campaign fund raising. Apart from ransom kidnapping, extortion and drug dealing, certain candidates also raise campaign funds through illegal gambling, smuggling and armed robbery. Dirty money becomes untraceable in election campaigns. With coordinated effort among several agencies, illegal ways of raising campaign funds can be stopped.