Pangasinan bet denies vote buying allegations

Pangasinan lawmaker aspirant Gilbert Estrella on Saturday denied allegations that he is involved in vote-buying, saying that he is ready to face the allegations thrown against him.

“Bukas po ang ating tanggapan sa anomang imbestigasyon na isasagawa ng mga kinauukulan hinggil sa paratang na vote-buying,” Estrella said in a statement.

(Our office is open to any investigation conducted by the authorities regarding the vote-buying allegations.)

“Wala po tayong itinatago. Wala po tayong ginagawang mali at illegal,” Estrella added.

(We are not hiding anything. We are not doing anything wrong or illegal.)

Estrella's statement comes days after Pangasinan 6th district Representative Marlyn Primicias-Agabas called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to look into the alleged reports of vote-buying in her province.

“Numerous reports of district-wide massive and unabated vote buying at P3,000 per voter operated by the leaders and supporters of Gilbert Estrella have reached my office particularly in (the municipalities of) Rosales, Balungao, and Asingan,” her letter read.

She added that “willing complainants are also reluctant to execute affidavits because they are also subjected to harassment and terrorism.”

Estrella, meanwhile, emphasized that he is not into negative campaigning, adding that he wants to be fair and he only intends to present his platforms and programs to the voters.

“Hindi ako nagsalita ng masama laban o patungkol sa ating katunggali. Sa halip, bilang pag-galang at mas nakaba-bata ay pinili nating maging isang magandang ehemplo na dapat sana'y silang mga nakatatanda at matagal na sa pesto ang unang gumagawa,” he added.

(I did not speak ill of or about our opponent. Instead, out of respect and for the younger generation, we chose to be a good example that should have been set by those who were older and had been in pesto for a long time.)

Comelec confirmed to GMA News Online that Primicias-Agabas’ letter was already forwarded to the poll body’s Committee on Kontra Bigay, which looks into the cases of alleged vote-buying, vote-selling and abuse of state resources (ASR).

Comelec earlier said that it has issued 213 show-cause orders to national and local candidates as of April 28. Of the said figures, 130 were related to alleged vote-buying and vote-selling, 67 were for ASR, and 16 were other complaints. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

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