Vice President Leni Robredo wasn’t criminally liable over her comment on vote buying, according to COMELEC.
On Thursday, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said that Vice President Leni Robredo wasn’t criminally liable over her recent comment regarding vote buying.
In an interview on CNN Philippines, COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez said that it’s not something that should have been said but he didn’t see any liability for Robredo in terms of criminal liability.
“I don’t see any liability for her now. I think it is not something that should have been said, but in terms of criminal liability, I don’t really see it,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez’s statement came after Robredo, a presidential aspirant in the 2022 polls, said that voters who were offered money to vote for a certain candidate should accept the cash but vote according to their conscience.
Robredo also said that the public should take such money and exercise their conscience vote because the money was sourced from public funds anyway.
In a later clarification, the Vice President said that she never condoned vote buying and that she’s just pointing out realities on the ground.
READ ALSO: Larry Gadon Wants COMELEC To Investigate Robredo For “Vote Buying” Advice
Her remark about accepting the money was similar to the position held by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, and former COMELEC Commissioner Christian Monsod, among others.
Meanwhile, Jimenez stressed that if Robredo would be criminally liable, it would mean that they would also have to investigate all political aspirants who made a comment on the said issue.
“I would say, then we would have to probe everyone who ever said that. Remember it’s not just one person who said that, multiple candidates have actually said that. So probe namin lahat?” Jimenez said.
The COMELEC spokesperson also acknowledged that political camps who were not proven to take part in vote selling can raise any defense to their advantage, especially if there’s no clear evidence on their intent.
However, any political candidate who gives money during the campaign period will have to be investigated.
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