MANILA, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Oscar Albayalde on Monday admitted the widespread practice of vote-buying in the country, and urged voters to report such cases to the police.
“Itong vote-buying kasi, it happens almost everywhere. May isusumbong dito, ‘yung pulis natin magrereact [sa report], so ‘yung kabila naman, magtetake advantage,” he said in a press briefing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
According to Albayalde, vote-buying reaches its peak a day or two before the actual elections.
But a week before the May 13 midterm elections, he said the PNP has already received reports of alleged vote-buying in some parts of the country, as he also emphasized the contribution of the public in relaying information to police.
“I think napakalaki po ng participation ng ating community dito and of course the voters themselves,” Albayalde said.
“They have to report it to us, and ang kailangan kasi dito ay ebidensya. Kailangan ito mahuli kung sino ang nagbibigay, sino ang tumatanggap, at kung sino ang nagpapabigay, especially [because] ‘yung iba ay government officials,” he added.
Albayalde said the PNP has already deployed a portion of the 160,000 police officers tasked to secure the elections on May 13 to warehouses of election materials in different parts of the country.
“We will maximize our deployment. We can assure the public of that. What we cannot assure is… baka meron diyang makalusot. /gsg