Comelec dismisses vote-buying charges against Villar-Genuino

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed vote-buying charges against senatorial candidate Camille Villar-Genuino for insufficient evidence.

In a letter dated May 7, Vice-Chairman Teofisto E. Elnas Jr. informed Villar that her explanation of being a guest at the event before the campaign period was satisfactory and deemed sufficient to proceed with filing a complaint for election offense or disqualification.

Villar welcomed the decision, assuring everyone that she is running on a clean platform and pursuing only her advocacies to improve Filipinos' lives.

The Comelec committee acted on an anonymous complaint that included a Facebook video posted on Feb. 16 showing Villar on stage while local candidates allegedly raffled off cash prizes for the audience.

Villar clarified that the event took place on Feb. 9, two days before the official campaign period and she was just a guest at the event.

She is among 14 senatorial bets deemed to have a statistical chance of winning on May 12, based on a Pulse Asia survey released recently.