Malacañang warned the public against vote buying and vote selling.
MALACAÑANG — The Palace recently discouraged the public from buying and selling votes since those are election offenses.
On Friday, Acting deputy presidential spokesperson Kristian Ablan said that it’s illegal to accept payment for votes or to buy votes as vote buying and vote selling are prohibited acts under the Omnibus Election Code.
“The Palace reminds the Filipino people that vote-buying and vote-selling are prohibited acts under the Omnibus Election Code so bawal po tumanggap at bawal din po bumili ng boto,” Ablan said. “Anyone found guilty of these prohibited acts under the Omnibus Election Code face penalties of imprisonment and fine.”
Ablan issued the reminder 45 days before Filipinos vote for the Philippines’ next set of leaders — from the president to the municipal councilors — on May 9, 2022.
Under the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881), any person found guilty of any election offense shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than 1 year but not more than 6 years.
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Prior to this, Commission on Election (COMELEC) Commissioner George Garcia said on Friday that the poll body will act on incidents of vote buying even without formal complaints.
“Be that as it may, kahit na wala pong formal complaints na ganyan, ang Comelec naman po ay mag-a-act na base sa aming mga report mula sa field personnel namin,” Garcia said. “Sa kasalukuyan po, wala pa po yung mga nabanggit ko na mga report na yan.”
Garcia made the statement when asked if the poll body has not received any complaints yet as media reported alleged distribution of cash in some campaign rallies in the provinces.
The COMELEC commissioner also warned political candidates and political parties that vote buying is a criminal offense with a penalty of 1-6 years of imprisonment, adding that the poll body already created a task force to investigate reports on vote buying incidents.
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