Honey Lacuna, Stella Quimbo, Miro Quimbo respond to Comelec order

Three of the local election candidates who have been issued show cause orders by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have expressed their willingness to comply, saying they are looking to disprove vote-buying allegations ahead of the midterm elections later this month.

According to Manila City Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, who is seeking reelection, she will follow the show cause order released by the poll body.

“We will comply with Comelec’s show cause order as soon as we receive a copy, because we believe in due process… We are ready to disprove and debunk,” she said in a report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

In a joint statement, Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Quimbo and her husband Romero “Miro” Quimbo, both also seeking posts in the coming elections, also said they will answer Comelec’s order, which they clarified is only part of a complaint and does not equate to a case.

“Hanggang ngayon, wala pa kaming natatanggap na opisyal na kopya ng reklamo. Pero nais namin linawin na handa kaming sagutin at harapin ito dahil malinis ang aming konsensya,” they said in a statement released via social media.

“Hindi po kami namimili ng boto. Ang boto ng bawat Marikenyo ay sagrado. Iginagalang namin ang tiwalang ibinibigay ng aming mga kababayan. Hinding-hindi namin lalapastanganin ito sa pamamagitan ng mga iligal na paraan. Lagi po kaming sumusunod sa mga alituntunin ng Comelec,” the statement added.

(Until now, we have yet to receive an official copy of the complaint. But we wish to clarify that we are ready to answer and to face this because our conscience is clear.

We do not buy votes. Votes of Marikina citizens are sacred. We respect the trust that our citizens give us. We will not insult this through illegal means. We always follow the rules of the Comelec).

Lacuna, along with Stella and Miro Quimbo, are among the candidates in the midterm elections that were issued show cause orders to explain their side over allegations of vote buying and abuse of state resources (ASR).

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