COMELEC Spox Disagrees With Leni Robredo's Remark On Vote Buying

The COMELEC spokesperson has disagreed with Vice President Leni Robredo’s remark on vote buying.

COMELEC — The spokesperson of the Commission on Elections publicly disagreed with presidential aspirant Leni Robredo’s remark on vote buying.

On Wednesday, COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez reminded the public that vote buying was still an election offense “regardless of financial situation or noble intentions”.

“I disagree with the notion of taking the money and voting according to your conscience. Vote buying is an election offense regardless of financial situation or noble intentions. Di dapat ginagawa, at di dapat sina-suggest yan sa mga botante,” Jimenez said in a Twitter post.

Jimenez issued the reminder on Twitter a day after Vice President Leni Robredo told voters to take the politician’s money but vote based on their conscience.

Robredo said in an online forum organized by Kasambahay For Leni that voters can take money from unscrupulous politicians but vote according to their conscience in the 2022 national and local elections.

“Mali iyong pagbili boto, pero iyong sinasabi ko sa tao, tanggapin n’yo. Parati kong sinasabi tanggapin n’yo kasi galing ‘yan sa atin. Iyong pinangbibili ng boto, pera rin ‘yan ng taongbayan,” Robredo said. “Pero tatanggapin mo, pero ang iboboto mo kung sino iyong nasa konsensya mo. Huwag kang boboto dahil pakiramdam mo meron kang utang na loob kasi tinanggap mo.“

While she maintained that vote-buying was an illegal act, Robredo admitted that it would be hard to catch vote buying, especially since it’s possible that such activities have moved to online means — via e-wallet applications.

According to Robredo, there’s no way for politicians to know if those who accepted the money actually voted for them. Robredo added that it would make them realize that vote buying wasn’t effective and would stay away from the said strategy if they lose in the 2022 elections.

Prior to this, Jimenez said that the Commission on Elections was set to work with e-wallet operators in the Philippines to help the poll body track vote buying online for the 2022 elections as vote buying was prevalent online through e-wallets or e-payments systems.

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