BARMM anti-vote buying task force launched
The Philippine Commission on Elections has launched a 'Kontra Bigay' task force in the Bangsamoro region to combat vote buying. The initiative aims to streamline complaint processing and enforce strict penalties, including imprisonment and disqualification for offenders.
Why it matters
Strengthening electoral integrity in autonomous regions is vital for democratic stability and ensuring fair representation in parliamentary elections.
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has launched a task force to thwart vote buying in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections.In an interview with state-run media PTV on Friday, Comelec commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr. said that while there were only two recorded vote-buying incidents based on the 2025 national and local elections in the BARMM, the goal of the task force was to ensure accountability."Because it's something that has been so used to it (vote-buying), sometimes we don't report it," Maceda said in Filipino."But it doesn't mean that there's no vote-buying in the region. That's why we're asking all BARMM citizens to report any incidents of vote-buying or vote-selling, abuse of state resources, and other violations."
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