34 vote-buying, ASR incidents reported so far for Eleksyon 2025

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has received 34 reports of vote-buying, vote-selling and abuse of state resources (ASR) for Eleksyon 2025 so far, a commissioner said Tuesday.

Of the figures, 23 were related to vote-buying and vote-selling and 11 were ASR.

Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr., chairperson of Committee on "Kontra Bigay," said the reports were filed before the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.

"As of this morning, we received 34 complaints dito sa main office. 23 are on vote-buying and vote-selling and 11 referencing ASR," Maceda Jr. told PTV-4's Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

(As of this morning, we received 34 complaints in the main office. 23 are on vote-buying and vote-selling and 11 referencing ASR.)

"Bago pa man nag-umpisa ang election period mayroon nang mga nagreklamo nito," he said.

(We received some of them even before the start of the campaign period.)

The Comelec received a total of 1,226 vote-buying reports during the 2022 presidential elections. Meanwhile, 375 similar cases were reported to the poll body in the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

During the 2023 BSKE, Maceda Jr. said most of the complaints were reported from the National Capital Region (NCR).

This prompted the poll body to keep its focus in the capital region for vote-buying incidents for the upcoming elections.

"Let's just use the BSKE. Ang NCR ang sentro ng vote-buying. I don't know if there are more vote-buying incidents hapening here or that the citizens are more aware of rights at mas masumbong," said Maceda Jr.

(Let's just use the BSKE. The NCR was the center of t vote-buying. I don't know if there are more vote-buying incidents hapening here or that the citizens are more aware of rights.)

Other areas with high vote-buying and vote-selling incidences are Region IV-A, Palawan, Abra, and Camarines Sur.

"Maaring sa 2025, dito pa rin sa NCR ang pinakamarami," Maceda Jr. added.

In February, the Comelec said it will impose stricter measures to curb vote-buying, vote-selling and prevent the ASR for the May elections as it relaunched the committee mandated to address vote-buying and vote-selling. 

The poll body has also partnered with e-wallet applications such as GCash and Paymaya to address vote-buying via digital transactions.

"Maliban sa online transfers, ang mga bagong pamamaraan – this is one of the reasons why our committee expand focus – ang ASR," said the poll official.

(Apart from vote-buying through e-wallets, the ASR is rampant for this year's campaign.)

ASR refers to the misuse of government resources, whether material, human, coercive, regulatory, budgetary, media-related, or legislative, for electoral advantage. This usually includes the use of government facilities and vehicles for campaign-related activity but Maceda said the Comelec will also presume ASR is committed if the disbursement of aid or subsidies came with campaign materials or with candidates and their family.

Also constituted as ASR are the use of government-funded media platforms to promote a candidate, the unjustified revocation or selective granting of government assistance during the campaign period and the sudden surge in hiring of job orders or contract-based orders when engaged in partisan electoral activities. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

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