With the 2025 local and national elections right around the corner, some candidates are pulling out all the stops to win—even if it means having to illegally pay off voters.
Among the most notorious forms of electoral violations are vote-buying and vote-selling, both of which take on different forms.
The GMA Integrated News Social Media Team, in partnership with GMA Integrated News Research and PressOne.PH, has come out with Eleksyonaryo: The Dapat Totoo Digital Exclusives to pre-bunk misinformation and educate Filipino voters online.
The first step to protecting yourself and your vote from such electoral cheating is to look out for the following presumed acts:
- Possessing or delivery of any coins, notes, monies, cards, pay envelopes, bags, groceries, tokens, or anything of value together with sample ballots or campaign materials
- Offering or promising something of value for votes
- Long lines or queues of persons for the distribution of money, discount, insurance or health cards, grocery items, and such other goods to make them vote for, or against an aspirant
- Giving money, discount cards, grocery items and such other goods during house-to-house election campaigns to make people vote for or against an aspirant
- Hosting games or other activities that involve distributing prizes connected to a candidate
- Utilizing the “hakot” system by gathering voters on and before election day to distribute money and induce them to vote for or against an aspirant
- Carrying cash exceeding the value of P500,000 with campaign paraphernalia and/or corroborated evidence two days before and on election day
- Splitting the amount of at least P20,000 to smaller denominations of P200 or below at least 5 days before the elections
- Conducting medical missions, feeding programs, legal aid services, or any caravan presenting or mentioning a candidate
- Giving, distributing, or receiving “ayuda” or any other form of assistance wherein the candidate’s name is mentioned, or presenting a candidate or presented by a candidate and their staff, known supporters, or relatives within the second degree of affinity
- Giving, distributing, or receiving “ayuda” or any other assistance outside medical and burial assistance outside the 10-day absolute ban
- Appointing more than two watchers per precinct per candidate
- Possessing indelible ink or any chemical to remove indelible ink on election day
- Possessing blank original ballots during election day
- Possessing original blank ballots on election day
- Other analogous circumstances
Vote buying and vote selling are acts banned under Batas Pambansa 881, Section 261(a), which provides that any person who gives, offers, promises, solicits or receives either money or anything else of value to induce votes were guilty of violating the law.
To avoid instances of vote-buying or vote-selling, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other law enforcement agencies are tasked to conduct surveillance for any information or report for possible incidents of vote-buying and selling.
Should a person or group be caught guilty of vote-buying or vote-selling, they may be arrested by the PNP and may be asked to submit to a search warrant prior to the arrest.
They may also be arrested without a warrant by any law enforcement officer should they be caught conducting these activities red-handed.
The Kontra Bigay Complaint Center by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is tasked with receiving all vote-buying an vote-selling complaints, which they have to evaluate and recommend for aformal complaint with the Comelec’s Committee on Kontra Bigay (CKB).
The CKB, in turn, may prepare a formal complaint for election defense and/or petition for the candidate’s disqualification.
The giver, offerer, promisor, solicitor, acceptor, recipient, and conspirator for the acts will be tagged as the principal of the case and any testifying witness will be exempt from prosecution and punishment.
Meanwhile, a candidate may face disqualification if proven to have given, offered, or promised money or anything of value to induce a vote from the public, or if they have released, disbursed, or expended public funds 45 days before a regular election or 30 days before a special election.
The Comelec may also motu propio file a petition to disqualify a candidate upon receipt of substantial evidence of such acts.
Violators of the anti-vote-buying and anti-vote-selling laws may face the following charges:
- No less than 1 year but no more than 6 years imprisonment
- Disqualification to hold public office
- Possible deportation for foreigners
- No less than P10,000-fine for political parties
- Deprivation of the right of suffrage
— VDV, GMA Integrated News
For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online’s Eleksyon 2025 microsite.
