By VERA Files | Tinig Ng Botante – 18 hours ago
By Mikha Flores, VERA Files
Three weeks to go to the May 13 polls, the Commission on Elections is starting to receive reports of vote-buying by candidates.
Elections Commissioner Grace Padaca said Monday she has received reports that rice and grocery items were being doled out by politicians in her hometown in Isabela but she declined to name the candidates.
Padaca also cited instances where voters were given transportation money to Visayas in exchange for votes.
“Parang hindi na lang nangyayari ang bilihan ng boto the night before the election, (It seems vote-buying no longer happens on the eve of the elections),†Padaca said.
Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the early forms of vote-buying do not involve cash but “more of other forms of vote-buyingâ€.
“Ang sa akin, ang sa experience ko diyan, very risky magbigay ng pera this early. Meron nang namimigay pero malamang hindi iboboto iyon dahil may darating pa the day before na mas malaki, (Based on my experience, it’s very risky to give out money this early. There are some who are already giving money but they would likely not get voted because a bigger amount would be given on the eve of the elections),†Brillantes, who was an election lawyer before he was appointed to Comelec, said.
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