The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has reiterated its commitment to pursue candidates found guilty of electoral offenses, even years after the violations were committed.
In an ambush interview, Comelec Chairman George Garcia emphasized that criminal election-related offenses remain prosecutable within a five-year prescriptive period.
“What we are saying is that we might not be able to catch you now, but remember, criminal offenses can still be prosecuted within five years due to the prescriptive period,” Garcia said.
Garcia also called on voters to resist vote buying and avoid supporting candidates who offer money in exchange for votes. He added that warrantless arrests are legally permissible in cases where vote buying is committed in plain view.
“The resolution creating the Kontra Bigay Committee clearly states that we have the authority to arrest someone without a warrant, especially when caught in the act of committing the crime,” he said.
Comelec has flagged at least 500 candidates for alleged vote buying and warned that such incidents are likely to intensify over the weekend.
Last Friday, two senior citizens died and ten others were injured at a hotel in Zamboanga City after attending an orientation for poll watchers. Reports indicated the attendees were waiting for a payout as volunteer poll watchers.
“What’s that? Allowance for poll watchers? A thousand people? When in fact, the number of poll watchers in a city or district should be around a hundred,” Garcia said, suggesting the event may have been a disguised vote-buying operation.
A show-cause order has been issued to officials in Zamboanga City, although Garcia did not name names.
Separately, a congressional candidate in Quezon City is under investigation for alleged vote buying.
"Behind the Quezon City Hall, there’s a long queue. We’ve already coordinated with the Philippine National Police and the local Comelec. Even though it hasn’t made the news yet, we have an ongoing investigation," Garcia said.
Comelec also addressed misinformation being spread online, including false claims by a political candidate alleging discrepancies between the source codes in Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) and the hash codes shown in the audit report on the Comelec website.
“The source codes of the ACMs are duly audited, and the hash codes match those verified by an independent third-party auditor,” the commission said in a statement.
Comelec assured the public that all counting machines had undergone a rigorous audit and trusted build process, safeguarding the integrity of the elections.
Garcia further debunked the circulation of fake Comelec resolutions in Laguna, which falsely claimed that Governor Ramil Hernandez, Congresswoman Ruth Hernandez, and the Bayan Muna party-list had been disqualified.
Approximately 68.4 million registered voters are expected to cast their votes on Monday, 13 May, to fill 18,320 national and local positions—from senators to municipal officials.