COMELEC receives 34 complaints on vote-buying, misuse of state resources

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has received 34 complaints regarding vote-buying, vote-selling, and abuse of state resources for the upcoming May polls as of Tuesday.

Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr., chairperson of Committee on 'Kontra Bigay,' noted that most of these complaints were filed before the start of the election period.

Monitoring efforts are particularly focused on Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Palawan, Abra, and Camarines Sur for vote-buying activities, following a trend from previous elections where 1,226 complaints were recorded in the 2022 national elections and 375 during the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

COMELEC has partnered with private financial institutions like GCash and Maya to monitor suspicious transactions and set transaction limits to prevent vote buying, emphasizing that misuse of state resources is also a serious concern in this election cycle.