356 arrested, P12.2 M seized in cases of vote buying, selling

The Philippine National Police might have netted hundreds of alleged vote buyers and sellers during the election period, but none of them owned up to the crime and had to be released.

PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac said that drug money might have been used to fund the vote buying activities, but with nobody talking, there was no way to confirm the police suspicion.

At a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City, on Thursday, Banac said that from Jan. 13 to May 14, the PNP rounded up and charged 356 individuals, 156 of them in Metro Manila, and seized a total of P12.2 million in cash in 225 police operations.

The biggest haul of P8 million was seized from ten alleged vote buyers and sellers in the Caraga region.

In Northern Mindanao, P1.2 million was confiscated from 17 arrested suspects.

The possibility that the cash used in the vote buying activities was sourced from the illegal drug trade cannot be discounted, Banac said, adding that “we need an investigative body to look into the suspected source of the funds.”

But with no suspects owning up to the activity, Banac said the police was “finding it difficult to identify the source of the money.”

The suspects have also refused to identify their accomplices and the source of their funds, so the PNP was reduced to simply arresting and filing charges against them for possessing campaign materials and a suspicious amount of cash.

With not enough evidence to stand up in court, Banac said the police had no option but to release the suspects.

Banac said that eight minors who were allegedly engaged in vote buying and selling mostly in the Bicol region, were also rescued.

“The [minors] were not caught in the act of actually handing out cash but they had the money and campaign leaflets when rounded up along with the other adult violators,” Banac said.

“All of the suspects have undergone inquest (proceedings) and cases were filed in the local prosecutor offices,” the police officer said, adding that the alleged violators have been released for further investigation.

The confiscated amounts meanwhile remain in PNP custody to be presented as evidence in court when needed, Banac said.

Historically, nobody has been convicted for vote buying and selling in the country until the recently concluded elections, the police officer said.

“It is only in these elections that the PNP seriously implemented the law against buying and selling votes,” Banac added.