ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Comelec: More than 1,000 reports on vote-buying received by TF Kontra Bigay

Comelec: More than 1,000 reports on vote-buying received by TF Kontra Bigay

Published May 30, 2022 04:36 pm

More than 1,000 reports on vote buying have been reported to the Task Force Kontra Bigay, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday, May 30.

Comelec/MB

Comelec said the Kontra Bigay- Facebook page received and responded to 940 messages while its official email received and responded to 171 emails.

"Out of the 171 emails, 88 can be considered valid reports and have been officially recorded," data from the Task Force showed.

It also revealed that out of the 88 recorded reports, only 49 were submitted with supporting evidence.

This is aside from the 105 reports lodged at the Comelec Law Department wherein 83 were acted upon and 12 verified complaints docketed.

"From the total of 1,110 reports from the FB page and the Official email of Kontra Bigay, 210 concerned citizens are requested to file their affidavit together with their evidence for a potential motu proprio case against the persons involved in vote buying/selling," the Task Force said.

"Out of the 210 concerned citizens requested to file their affidavits, there are only three that are willing to pursue their complaints," it added.

Asked why only a few are willing to pursue their complaints, Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco replied:"Hindi po nila sinasabi. We could only think of various reasons perhaps from fear or just general refusal to be fully involved."

The Comelec also shared the following observations: some of the reports received through the FB page are not vote-buying/selling related incidents; similar complaints were received regarding videos that went viral; some would message the FB page just to insult the Commission; and many reported vote buying incidents but are afraid to testify.

Meanwhile, 24 individuals are facing administrative exclusion cases for failing to file their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) twice.

The Comelec, however, did not identify the said candidates.

Laudiangco said based on Republic Act No. 7166, the commission of a second or subsequent offense, "the administrative fine shall be from P2,000 to P60,000 in the discretion of the Commission. In addition, the offender shall be subject to perpetual disqualification to hold public office."

Data from the Comelec - Campaign Finance Office (CFO) also showed that there are over 2,000 cases of campaign overspending that have been filed which include 1,954 election offense charges for campaign overspending.

This is aside from the 544 disqualification cases that have also been filed on the grounds of overspending.

Related Tags

comelec acting spokesperson john rex laudiangco vote buying Comelec Commission on Elections
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.