7 alleged vote buying cases reported in Western Visayas

VOTE BUYING. A voter, who refused to be named, said each voting-member of their family were given P200 by a running group at Barangay 40 in Bacolod City. (Erwin P. Nicavera Photo)
VOTE BUYING. A voter, who refused to be named, said each voting-member of their family were given P200 by a running group at Barangay 40 in Bacolod City. (Erwin P. Nicavera Photo)

SEVEN alleged vote buying incidents were reported to the authorities in Western Visayas since May 13.

Superintendent Joem Malong, public information officer of Police Regional Office (PRO) Western Visayas, said yesterday, May 14 that two cases were reported in Aklan, four incidents in Iloilo province, and one in Negros Occidental.

Malong said there was no apprehension against the accused unless they were caught in the act doing the violation.

The Comelec will wait for the complainants to file their complaint against those persons whom they accused of committing such offense, she added.

In Negros Occidental, a person reported to the police about an alleged vote buying of a candidate at Barangay Robles, Negros Occidental on Sunday.

A photo taken by the complainant showed that an unidentified person was giving money to another unidentified person in front of a candidate, who was checking on his cellular phone.

Senior Inspector John Ganzon, deputy police chief of the town, said they catered the complaint but it was only for record purposes.

On the same evening, policemen were conducting police visibility at Barangay Union Nabas, Aklan when they were informed by a certain village councilman about the same offense committed by a man whom they claimed handed a folded sample ballot with P150 attached to it in exchange for votes.

A day before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, the same complaint was also reported to Police Station 2 in Bacolod City but it was not officially included in the Comelec and PRO-Western Visayas official report.

The law prohibits offers or promises of “money or anything of value” in exchange for votes, as it is considered an election offense under the Omnibus Election Code.

One to six years imprisonment and disqualification to hold public office will be sanctioned to any person found guilty of such election offense.

There were some reports of alleged vote buying in other areas in Bacolod City and the rest of Negros Occidental but the poll body has yet to receive a formal complaint.

(Generally peaceful)

Meanwhile, the electoral process in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City was “generally peaceful.”

Inspector Charmae De Paz, public information officer of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), said there were no election-related violent incidents in the municipalities of Calatrava, Toboso, Moises Padilla, La Castellana, and Salvador Benedicto, which were considered election watchlist areas (Ewas).

The alleged barricade incident in Cauayan town on May 13, a day before the election, was due to misunderstanding and not election-related.

In Bacolod City, Rolly Rivera, 23, of Barangay Estefania was arrested Sunday night, May 13, after he was caught carrying a firearm in the said village.

Police recovered from him a .22 magnum black widow loaded with five unfired cartridges.

He is the 14th Comelec gun ban violator in the city since April 14.

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