Marcos Jr accused of Philippine election overspend
June 16, 2022 · By Joseph Peter Calleja, Manila for www.ucanews.com
Catholic poll watchdog calls for a probe amid claims vote buying sent campaign spending over the legal limit
Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. greets supporters during a rally in Laoag city, Ilocos norte province, north of Manila, on March 25. (Photo: AFP)
Marcos Jr accused of Philippine election overspend
A Catholic poll watchdog in the Philippines has accused President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of flouting election rules by spending more than the legal amount stipulated by law.
The accusation on June 8 came after the winner of last month’s presidential election admitted spending more than 623 million pesos (US$12.46 million) on his election campaign.
Although this amount fell within the 674-million-peso limit, the Association of Catholic Voters said it believed the figure that Marcos Jr. declared was much less than what he actually spent.
As such, the group called for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate his campaign spending.
The amount he declared, “for sure, was only a conservative amount,” the group said in a Facebook post.
It pointed to reports of thousands of Marcos Jr. supporters receiving payments of at least 500 pesos ($10) while attending his campaign rallies.
“I hope authorities will investigate Marcos Jr.’s alleged vote buying and overspending to let the people know the legal system still works in the Philippines”
“There were thousands of Marcos supporters receiving money at rallies all around the country. If those individuals would testify that they received said amounts, we are sure that Marcos Jr. has violated election law by overspending and is also guilty of vote buying,” the group added.
On March 16, online news portal Rappler claimed white envelopes containing money were given at one such campaign rally in Nueva Ecija province, north of Manila. Each envelope allegedly contained 500 pesos.
Human rights activist and staunch Marcos critic Father Flavie Villanueva also called for a probe.
“I hope authorities will investigate Marcos Jr.’s alleged vote buying and overspending to let the people know the legal system still works in the Philippines,” he said.
The Marcos camp, however, denied vote buying and maintained that campaign spending was within legal limits, adding that just over 373.25 million pesos came from donations from friends and supporters, while about 247.23 million came from his political party.
“We have not exceeded the amount allowable by law and as far as the law is concerned, we are clean and we are legal,” Marcos’ lawyer Vic Rodriguez said on June 7.
