OCTA on vote buying in Eleksyon 2025: Most Pinoys had no knowledge

Majority of Filipinos said that they have not experienced or personally known of incidents of vote buying in Eleksyon 2025, data from a survey conducted by OCTA Research showed.

According to the group's Tugon ng Masa Survey on public perceptions on vote buying in the May 2025 elections, 62% of Filipinos said they did not experience or personally know of vote-buying incidents.

However, 71% of the remaining 38% who have experienced or personally knew of vote buying said that they believe it influenced the elections.

Based on the survey, vote buying was “unevenly visible” across groups nationwide.

Majority of respondents aware of vote buying resided in Mindanao with 62% and hailed from socio-economic classes A, B, and C with 51%.

Majority of those who were unaware were from Balance Luzon with 76% and a tie between socio-economic classes D and E at 63% for both.

Of the respondents who are aware, most of the respondents who believed vote buying affected the election results were in the National Capital Region with 86% and socio-economic class A, B, and C with 84%.

“This dual reality underscores how transactional politics continues to cast a long shadow over electoral legitimacy in the Philippines,” ready the OCTA study.

“Together, these results reveal a broader challenge for Philippine democracy: the persistence of vote buying, even when not universally visible, undermines public trust in elections and reinforces perceptions of an uneven playing field in certain regions and sectors. The uneven distribution of both exposure and perceptions points to vulnerabilities that weaken the credibility of electoral outcomes and erode confidence in democratic processes,” it added.

OCTA recommended for the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to implement stronger monitoring, enforce tougher legal penalties, enhance targeted voter education, and employ broader democratic safeguards to protect the country from further incidents of vote-buying.

Data from the survey was gathered through face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents nationwide from July 12 to 17, 2025.

The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level, and was released on Sept. 2 as a public service by OCTA Research. 

"Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95% confidence level: ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao," the group said. —KG, GMA Integrated News

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