Police raided on Wednesday, Oct. 25, a warehouse in Navotas City where vote-buying was allegedly being held, resulting in the arrest of a woman who became the first to be apprehended for the election offense in Metro Manila. 

Police Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr., director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), lauded the Navotas police for prompt action on a tip-off by a local resident about the alleged vote-buying activity in warehouse in Barangay San Jose.

                                            photo: NCRPO 

He identified the arrested suspect as Maribel Policarpio who yielded almost P364,000 cash, most of them inside an envelope with P300 each.

 Also seized, according to Nartatez, were a laptop and a box containing the names, precinct numbers and contact numbers of registered voters in the area.

"May this serve as a warning to all other candidates and supporters that the police force is very strict in the implementation of operations against vote buying/vote selling in Metro Manila," said Nartatez.

The operation stemmed from a tip-off by a local resident about the alleged vote-buying activity in the area.

Police then went to the area and saw around 200 people lining up in front of the table with piles of white paper envelopes. 

                                           photo: NCRPO 

“During the initial interview to the involved individuals, they unilaterally answered that they were from Barangay Longos in Malabon City,” the report read.

"Accordingly, they were invited by the suspect to undergo the Watcher’s Training but when they arrived they were offered and given money by the said suspect. Further probing also revealed that they were all watchers in the Barangay Election of Barangay Longos in Malabon City,” the report added.

Nartatez then warned candidates for the barangay elections to refrain from vote-buying activities in order to avoid legal trouble.