Party-list group begins buying votes in Baguio, Benguet?

BAGUIO CITY (February 13, 2025) -- A party-list group borne in Northern Luzon has reportedly began buying votes in Baguio and Benguet towns, prompting Comelec-Baguio to begin investigating this election offense.

Caught on camera, money is reportedly being handed out together with membership identification cards (ID), alarming Comelec-Baguio election supervisor Atty. JP Martin.

The party-list group is tied to an incumbent and re-electionist lawmaker in Northern Luzon and its first nominee is that lawmaker’s very close kin.

Atty. Martin, together with government officials just launched Comelec’s drive against vote buying, vote-selling and other election offenses at the Melvin Jones grandstand on Wednesday.

“Il dispatch a verification team,” said Martin, upon personally seeing the photographs that showed several already filled-up ID cards of the party-list group together with cash in P100 peso bills being distributed in a still undisclosed location in Benguet.

The poll body Friday last week launched its “Committee on Kontra Bigay campaign” vowing it is a "fortified version" of the Kontra Bigay Task Force in 2022.

Stronger safeguards, clearer regulations and stricter enforcement mechanisms were introduced, promised the Comelec.  Vote sellers and buyers can face a 1 to 6 years imprisonment and disqualification for candidates, it warned. Comelec-Cordillera director Atty. Julius Torres also promised they will start instituting their Committee versus vote-buying and vote-selling, citing the poll body’s determined tact to curb this election malady.