Cash, goods, and promises: Comelec warns of pre-election handouts

National

SANTAS in summer are out in full force—and they’re not bringing cheer, but vote-buying schemes.

As the May 12 midterm elections draw near, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is bracing for a spike in reports of candidates doling out cash, goods, and public aid in a last-ditch effort to sway voters.

Comelec Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr., who heads the Committee on Kontra Bigay (CKB), said they anticipate a noticeable uptick in vote buying and abuse of state resources (ASR) in the final stretch before election day.

“We do anticipate that additional reports of vote buying and vote selling activities will still come in 10 days before election day,” Maceda said in an interview on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

He called on the public to report any suspicious activity via email at [email protected] or through the official Comelec Facebook page.

So far, the CKB has received 309 reports of vote buying or ASR—far fewer than the 1,226 reports logged during the 2022 elections. Calabarzon leads in complaints with 64, followed by Central Luzon (54), Metro Manila (52), and both Mimaropa and Bicol Region (20 each). Among the vote-buying hotspots include Laguna, Marikina City, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Oriental Mindoro, Malabon City, and Isabela.

Maceda said the most common forms of vote buying involve handing out cash or goods, while ASR cases often relate to the distribution of government assistance.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Garcia confirmed that all 93,629 automated counting machines have been delivered to local election offices across the country.

“As of today, all the voting machines are already in the possession of the local Comelec,” Garcia said in a Philstar report.

Deployment of voting machines began on April 4, with final testing and sealing set to finish by May 7 to allow time for fixes if needed.

The Comelec is preparing for over 68 million registered voters in the upcoming polls.(MyTVCebu)