Pangasinan 6th district Representative Marlyn Primicias-Agabas has asked the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) to follow through with its assurance of swift action regarding the various complaints of vote-buying in the 2025 polls.
Agabas extended her appeal to the Philippine National Police (PNP), and said that proper enforcement of this would be paramount.
“This is a crucial first step. But what the public needs now is visible enforcement. The credibility of the May 12 elections depends on whether the law is enforced," she said in a statement Thursday, May 8.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia, through the commission’s spokesperson, has confirmed that the agency is preparing to address a surge of complaints expected this week. More importantly, it emphasized that no candidate with unresolved vote buying cases will be proclaimed.
Agabas wrote separate letters to the Comelec and PNP Chief General Rommel Marbil, on April 29 and cited reports of massive, coordinated vote buying operations allegedly involving political allies of rival candidate Gilbert Estrella.
According to her, voters across all municipalities in the 6th district reportedly received P3,000 each—an operation she described as “an open secret".
In her letters to Garcia and Marbil, Agabas stressed that “The Comelec, together with the PNP, are in the best position to use their resources and intelligence network in order to motu proprio conduct their own investigation and take action."
"It is at this juncture that I believe higher authorities should step in, considering that persons with the lower pay grade are understandably reluctant to act, given that a high-ranking official is behind all these,” she reckoned.
Various church-based organizations and religious leaders in the province have echoed Agabas’ call for urgent and impartial action, saying vote buying is a moral and legal issue that threatens the foundations of democracy.
“Let us see the same level of commitment from law enforcement units in Pangasinan and across the country,” she further said.