Gaea Katreena Cabico – Philstar.com May 13, 2022
MANILA, Philippines — Opposition coalition 1Sambayan asked the Commission on Elections to investigate vote buying incidents and spread of disinformation on social media that cast doubt on the integrity of the May 9 elections.
In a statement,1Sambayan said irregularities such as vote buying, voter disenfranchisement, vote counting machine malfunctions, widespread disinformation on social media, and red-tagging marred the conduct of the polls.
“Nanawagan kami sa Comelec na imbestigahan ang mga ito at papanagutin ang mga may-sala upang malaman ng mga mamamayan ang katotohanan at para hindi na maulit sa mga susunod na halalan,” it said.
(We are urging the Comelec to investigate these and to hold accountable those behind these incidents so people will know the truth and these irregularities will not be repeated in future elections.)
1Sambayan also said it is reviewing election returns that were reported in the poll body’s quick count. The coalition’s review indicates that those election returns match with the partial election returns gathered by 1Sambayan at the precinct level.
Election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting reported Thursday 100% match rate between the electronic election returns and the first batch of physical ERs it has encoded.
In response to protests alleging poll irregularities, Comelec John Rex Laudiangco said Friday that all of the poll body’s proceedings have been transparent since the beginning and have been in accordance with laws and rules.
“We could proudly state that no cheating happened,” he said.
1Sambayan, which backed the tandem of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan, thanked the presidential and vice presidential bets for standing up and leading the fight for honest governance.
“Patuloy niyo kaming makakasama sa ating misyon para sa isang pamahalaan na magpapalakas ng ating ekonomiya, gagawa ng trabaho at hanapbuhay, makakapagbigay ng social services, magkakamit ng katarungan at magpapayabong ng ating likas na yaman para sa ikauunlad ng lahat ng Pilipino,” the coalition said.
(We will continue to be with you in this mission of a government that will strengthen the economy, create jobs and livelihood, provide social services, achieve justice, and develop our natural resources for the betterment of Filipinos.)
Robredo’s archrival, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. clinched a landslide win in this year’s polls with 31.1 million votes so far, based on partial and unofficial count. Robredo was in distant second, with over 14.8 million votes.