Massive vote buying mars local elections in Bicol

By Rhaydz B. Barcia

LEGAZPI CITY --- As 4,053,977 registered Bicolano voters cast their ballots on Monday, the 2025 midterm elections were tainted by massive vote-buying, allegedly fueled by well-funded politicians and party-lists across the region.

Fr. Rex Paul Arjona, parish priest of St. Roch Parish in Taysan, Legazpi City, condemned the rampant vote-buying in this year’s local elections.

“To realize how insanely massive the vote-buying is this year, consider this: Legazpi City has 147,382 registered voters. If only 70% of them received P10,000 each — a conservative estimate — the amount spent would exceed P1 billion!” Arjona said.

He added that if 70% of Albay’s 940,114 registered voters received an average of P3,000 each, the vote-buying cost would be close to P2 billion.

“The staggering amount of money poured into Albay just to buy votes should already warn us — how will they recover their costs, plus their profit margin?” Arjona asked.

He posed the question in both Filipino and English:

“Paano babawiin ang ibinuhos na bilyon? Ano ang katumbas ng balotang binili? Anong hinaharap ang naghihintay sa atin kapag sila ang nanalo?”

(How will the billions spent be recovered? What is the true value of a purchased ballot? What future awaits us if they win?)

The 2025 midterm polls, particularly at the local level, are shaping up to be the most expensive in Bicol’s electoral history — especially in Albay, where payouts reportedly reached over P10,000 per voter in Legazpi alone.

Both major camps allegedly distributed cash, but in Legazpi City, the highest bidder reportedly offered amounts ranging from P10,000 to nearly P20,000 per voter, covering candidates for mayor, congress, and vice governor — without including a gubernatorial ally or full slate of board members.

Meanwhile, another camp, lacking support from national politicians, allegedly distributed around P3,000 per voter — covering candidates for congressman, governor, vice governor, board member, mayor, and councilor.

Reports of massive vote-buying also emerged from other Bicol provinces — Camarines Sur, Masbate, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, and Camarines Norte.

Among the six Bicol provinces, Camarines Sur has the largest number of registered voters with 1,344,062, followed by Albay (940,114), Masbate (619,174), Sorsogon (553,240), Camarines Norte (396,583), and Catanduanes (200,804).

Despite widespread reports, Comelec Albay Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Maria Aurea Bo-Bunao told The Manila Times that her office has yet to receive official complaints regarding vote-buying in the province. She urged the public to help the Commission on Elections (Comelec) combat electoral fraud by filing formal complaints with affidavits.

Comelec also partnered with volunteer lawyers from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Albay Chapter, along with paralegals from the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, Bicol College, and Bicol University, to set up Kontra Bigay complaint desks in Comelec offices to offer free legal aid for complaints related to vote-buying and vote-selling.

“Volunteer lawyers and paralegals were on standby at Kontra Bigay complaint desks in COMELEC offices across the province to provide free legal assistance to voters with complaints,” Bo-Bunao said.

She added that voters can file complaints and submit sworn affidavits if they were offered or accepted money for their votes. A hotline was also provided: voters may contact the IBP Albay Election Help Desk at 0921-430-9799 for assistance in filing complaints.

Since the start of the campaign period, Comelec Bicol has issued 45 show cause orders to candidates across the region for alleged vote-buying activities.

Comelec Bicol Regional Election Director Atty. Maria Juana Valeza said the show cause orders were issued to candidates in four Bicol provinces: 27 in Catanduanes, 15 in Camarines Sur, 2 in Albay, and 1 in Sorsogon.

Valeza emphasized that Comelec Bicol remains open to receiving reports on vote-buying and other electoral violations. She stressed the importance of including the names of those involved, along with the time, date, location of the incident, and, if possible, photographic or video evidence.