Palo archbishop speaks against vote-buying: Keep sacredness of votes

TACLOBAN CITY — Amid reports of massive vote-buying in several parts in Eastern Visayas, Palo Archbishop John Du appealed to candidates not to buy votes and for voters to not sell their votes.

Archbishop John Du said the electoral process is sacred and therefore should be respected by all.

“I pray that the elections will be honest and clean,” he said.

“People should keep the sacredness of their votes because that is their privilege and right,” he added.

Vote-buying has been reported in various parts of Eastern Visayas with the amount ranging from P20 to P5,000.

READ: Vote buying reported in parts of Eastern Visayas

In Tacloban City, policemen on board their patrol cars are roaming around the streets to remind voters not to accept money from candidates or else they will face imprisonment of up to six years if convicted by the court.

The local police, however, has yet to find a single voter to have committed vote-buying.

Lawyer Rafael Olaño, regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), said while they have received several reports of vote-buying in the region, they could not act on them.

“We received information on vote-buying, particularly in Leyte and Samar but so far we could not act on them. We asked them to reduce their complaint into writing so we can conduct our investigation,” Olaño said. (Editor: Julie Espinosa)