Comelec urged: Probe Las Piñas mayoralty bet over ‘vote buying’

A lawyer has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate the alleged vote-buying incident involving a political leader of a mayoralty candidate in Las Piñas City.

Atty. Zardi Abellera — a former city legal department head — urged Comelec chief George Erwin Garcia to form a parallel investigation team to probe the political leaders of mayoralty aspirant Carlo Aguilar, who is allegedly involved in vote buying.

This comes after a one-minute and 26-second video clip recorded by a concerned citizen and contributed to DAILY TRIBUNE shows a woman wearing a shirt with the name "Carlo Aguilar" on the back taking names down on a piece of paper.

In the clip, a reported political leader of Aguilar allegedly hands something to the woman and signs the attendance sheet before leaving. Other supporters wait in front of the woman. DAILY TRIBUNE could not immediately identify the material being handed over.

Only food stubs for hungry supporters

Aguilar's supporters chimed in on social media after the video was posted, claiming that the woman was distributing food stubs to hundreds of his supporters and nothing else. One Facebook user, "Loris Nicole," shared with the paper a photo of the alleged vouchers.

Another user, "Roweenee de Sate," messaged DAILY TRIBUNE claiming to be the woman in the video wearing the "Carlo Aguilar" shirt. She noted that the food stubs were for supporters and the list was to ensure that each of them had received their voucher.

Promises, promises

Even if no money exchanged hands that day, Abellera explained that any person who gives, offers, or promises anything of value, monetary or not, before or during an election campaign is considered vote buying.

Under Section 261(a) of Batas Pambansa Bilang 881, or the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), vote buying and vote-selling are punishable offenses with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years, and shall not be subject to probation.

Additionally, the guilty party shall be disqualified from holding public office and deprived of the right to suffrage.

Meantime, Las Piñas councilor and congressional candidate Mark Anthony Santos cited Comelec Resolution 9615, which states that a candidate is allowed to spend only P3 for every registered voter in the area where he or she filed the certificate of candidacy (CoC).

For candidates without any political party or support from a political party, the spending limit is P5 per registered voter.