ILOILO City – Aside from maintaining peace and order this election season, the police also help the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stop vote-buying.
“We have intelligence personnel on the lookout for this illegal activity,” said Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, operations chief of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Vote buying and selling are prohibited acts under the Omnibus Election Code, with penalties of imprisonment for one to six years, disqualification to hold public office, and forfeiture of one’s right to vote.
Any political party found guilty would also have to pay a fine of not less than P10,000.
In a recent press conference, Comelec Region 6 election attorney Hazel Palencia acknowledged that vote-buying and vote-selling are hard to prove and prosecute.
“Vote buying and vote selling are both illegal but hard to prove. May ara complaint pero anonymous. Indi mag-prosper ang kaso kay wala sworn statement,” Palencia lamented.
“Complains must be verified. There must be testimony,” she stressed.
Recently, the Comelec central office formed an inter-agency team to tackle vote-buying complaints. It was called “Kontra Bigay” and composed of Comelec, Department of Justice, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Information Agency, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines./PN
