THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has expressed full support to the revived bid to pass an "anti-epal" measure in the Senate, saying it will help in their fight against Abuse of State Resources (ASR) acts.
In a media briefing, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they support the bill filed by Senator Erwin Tulfo that seeks to ban politicians from participating in the distribution of any forms of government assistance.
"Suportado namin ang any initiative to limit public expenditure at the same time Abuse of State Resources dahil tantamount to vote buying yan kalimitan," said Garcia.
(We support any initiative to limit public expenditure and, at the same time, the abuse of state resources, because that is often tantamount to vote buying.)
He said the passage of such a law will prohibit the presence of politicians during the distribution of government aid and will greatly help in their fight against "Abuse of State Resources" during the election period.
"Malaking tulong yan sa efforts ng Comelec lalo na at meron nga kami na Committee on Kontra Bigay," said the poll chief.
(That is a big help to Comelec s efforts, especially since we have a Committee on Kontra Bigay.)
"Pinagbabawal natin magbigay ng AICS, MAIFIP, Akap at iba pang assistance except burial assistance. Yan ay very important sa amin sa laban sa Abuse of State Resources," added Garcia.
(We prohibit the giving of AICS, MAIFIP, Akap, and other forms of assistance, except for burial assistance. This is very important to us in the fight against the abuse of state resources.)
ASR refers to the misuse of government resources, whether material, human, coercive, regulatory, budgetary, media-related, or legislative, with an aim to gain electoral advantage.
Earlier, Tulfo filed Senate Bill (SB) 1445, which intends to ban politicians from participating in the distribution of any forms of government assistance. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)