If patriotism is the last refuge of scalawags and scoundrels, what about election losers? You guess it right and you are in to a disappointment. Yes, Virginia, you will disappoint to know that election losers sought refuge in tears because they cannot find any justification why they lose in the first place. They also cry vote buying. Heck, since when does having money to buy votes becoming a negative option. You have money earned the honest way, then why fault the poor fellow if he squanders it like it goes out of style the next day. That's his money anyway and if he wastes it like there's no tomorrow in winning votes, then what the heck!

For one, no candidate before the last ballot is counted would ever admit that he would end up losing his bid. Everybody is a winner. The potential losers among them, even if they knew beforehand that they don't have a Chinaman's chance to hack a victory no matter what, would still insist that he's going to make it. May be to rally his troops that they are in the thick of the fight. Or it's the losing bet's way of massaging the ego of his gullible patron to part with his money to finance a faltering bid all throughout the finish line. But woe unto this sleek operator. He should know that his opponent is not taking any chances, fair or foul, to clinch victory.

Yes, including vote buying.

The reality of Philippine politics revolves around the golden rule. Remember the saying he who has the gold makes the rule? Money talks, yes, and everybody listens. Let's stop fooling ourselves. While we do not condone the evils of vote buying, if there's no way that we cannot stop it, just as yet, then we might as well enjoy its evil effects. Sort of, if we cannot lick ‘em, we might as well join ‘em. While we are at it, we might as well rationalize vote buying with a positive spin. At this time where the best hopes for poverty alleviation lie in dole outs, we still believe the accepted norm that the best way into a man's heart is through the stomach. This is where election money spells the difference when the poor is the primary target in voting support. Knowing that the poor are the most vulnerable sector of society, election or no election, do you think they do not welcome with open arms any promise of election dole out?

It will take time before the poor will ever realize the evil of selling their sacred right to choose their leaders. Just like the illegal trade of endangered species, where there is no selling, then, in the same vein, there is no taking. So the buying must stop. But unless poverty is licked altogether, the poor in our society remain a magnet of reckless exploitation by those who want to seek power through the color of money. The learning process is a tedious one. In the case of vote buying, for a long time, it will always stay. Unless the people assume the trait of Maria Teresa, vote buying during elections will become a thing of the past.