Reelectionist Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Gus Tambunting is being made to explain the vote-buying allegation against him, a show-cause order (SCO) from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has revealed.
Tambunting, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises chairman in the 19th Congress, was given three days upon receipt of the SCO to explain why no election offense or disqualification case should be filed against him.
The poll body issued the order to the veteran legislator via its Committee on Kontra Bigay.
The allegation against Tambunting says that he facilitated a recurring activity of picking up groups of individuals in passenger vans, bringing them to a building, and providing them with cash and food packages.
"The video and photo evidence attached to the complaint visibly show individuals boarding vans, going inside the building, and leaving the same with food packages," the SCO stated.
According to the complaint submitted to the Comelec, the same groups of individuals who benefited from the activity would be brought back to the place where they were picked up from.
It further said that the distribution of cash and food was done in a privately-owned building.
The photos attached to the complaint showed that the vans used to transport the groups of individuals bore campaign posters of Tambunting.
Under Section 261 (a) of the Omnibus Election Code, any individual who gives, offers, or promises money or anything of value to influence a person to vote for or against a candidate is committing an election offense—regardless of whether it is done directly or indirectly.
Vote-buying or vote-selling is punishable with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years, not subject to probation; and disqualificatiom to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.