Comelec receives over 400 reports of vote-buying, vote-selling, ASR

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Committee on Kontra Bigay (CKB) has received over 400 reports of vote-buying, vote-selling, and abuse of state resources (ASR) for Eleksyon 2025.

On Thursday, Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr., chairperson of CKB, said the reports the committee received has reached 439 as of Thursday, May 8. Of the figures, 268 were vote-buying and vote-selling, 130 were ASR and 41 were a combination of both cases.

Most vote-buying and vote-selling cases are related to cash distribution, financial assistance, and giving away of goods.

The regions with the highest number of related complaints  include Calabarzon, Cagayan Valley, Metro Manila, the Bicol Region, Mimaropa, and Ilocos Region. Meanwhile, provinces with highest number of reports include Laguna, Marikina, Rizal, Bulacan, and Oriental Mindoro.

“Before the end of the day, I’m sure it will pass 450, which is not so much compared to 2022 ang total number is 1,226,” said Maceda Jr.

(I’m sure the number may go as high as over 450 before the end of the day. It is not so much compared to the 2022 data of 1,226.)

Church leaders file vote-buying complaints 

Meanwhile, leaders from various churches in Pangasinan filed separate complaints against the “massive and rampant vote-buying” in the province’s sixth congressional district. 

Pastors from the municipalities of Tayug, Umingan, Sta. Maria, Balungao, Rosales, and San Manuel submitted letters to the poll body, expressing “great alarm and concern” over reports that some candidates are allegedly distributing up to P3,000 per voter in exchange for support in the upcoming May polls. 

“The scale and amount alone… is not only revolting to the senses but perplexing,” the letter reads. 

“But more alarming is how vote-buying destroys the moral fabric of our community,” it added. 

The church groups condemned the practice as immoral and unlawful, warning that it undermines the integrity of public office .

They likewise questioned the absence of any arrests or visible enforcement efforts despite widespread reports of electoral misconduct, saying that “not a single apprehension has been made or concrete and effective action taken in order to prevent what is clearly illegal and immoral.”

“We do hope and pray that under your watch and guidance, the further deterioration of our country’s electoral system shall not prosper,” they said.

Poll chief George Erwin Garcia said it had referred the letters to the Committee on Kontra-Bigay.

Stricter measures

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

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. — RSJ/RF, GMA Integrated News

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