Kontra Daya on Monday, July 19, said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should call out President Duterte for disregarding election rules with his statement that he will bring “sackloads of cash” to support the bets of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the May 2022 polls.

In a statement, the group said the poll body should call out the President, convinced that this promotes vote- buying.

"The Comelec should officially call out the President for circumventing election rules," the group said in a statement.

"Even at the risk of stating the obvious, Duterte is disregarding election rules and perpetrating election fraud. Only enablers of tyranny and impunity would dismiss Duterte's recent statement as a mere joke," added Kontra Daya.

"The President should be reminded that this constitutes vote-buying," the group said.

The poll watchdog group said this is an excellent time for the Comelec to "prove its quasi-judicial independence from Malacañan Palace, even if all but one of the commissioners happen to be Duterte appointees."

Kontra Daya said Duterte should be aware that his action may also be interpreted as misappropriation of taxpayers’ money.

"He is, after all, promising funds to his allies. Lest we forget, he is doing so as the highest official of the land, clearly a conflict of interest as elected official and de facto campaign financier," said the group.

"While there is nothing that prevents certain officials from endorsing and campaigning for preferred candidates, they should all be prudent enough not to abuse and misuse government resources. In addition, they should not be remiss in fulfilling official tasks when the campaign season starts," Kontra Daya added.