Pampanga mayor posts bail for vote-buying complaint – Comelec

San Fernando City, Pampanga Mayor Vilma Caluag posted bail for the vote-buying complaint the Commission on Elections (Comelec) filed against her, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday, April 25, 2025. (INQUIRER FILES)

MANILA, Philippines — A Pampanga mayor has posted bail for the vote-buying complaint the Commission on Elections (Comelec) filed against her, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday.

The poll body’s law department previously lodged a criminal case at the city’s Regional Trial Court (RTC) against San Fernando City Mayor Vilma Caluag, her husband, and another official. The complaint stemmed from vote-buying allegations during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in 2023.

READ: Pampanga mayor, 2 others face vote-buying complaint

“Ito po ay binato ng Regional Trial Court ng Pampanga at pinalipat sa Regional Trial Court ng Valenzuela. Sa ating pagkakaalam, nakapagpyansa na ang naturang mayor ng San Fernando, Pampanga,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

(This was handled by the Regional Trial Court of Pampanga and was transferred to the Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela. Based on our information, the San Fernando, Pampanga mayor has posted bail.)

Garcia also said that Comelec acts as the prosecutor, as does the Office of the Prosecutor of Valenzuela.

“Hindi po namin lulubayan dahil mandato po ng Comelec na kung ano po yung finile namin, kasama po kami sa prosecution, and the election officer as well as the lawyers of the law department ang ando’n para subaybayan lagi ang bawat stage ng kaso,” Garcia added.

(We will not stop [the process] because it is the Comelec’s mandate that whatever we file, we will be included in the prosecution, as well as the election officer, and the lawyers of the law department to monitor every stage of the case.)

Garcia explained that after the bail is posted, there will be an arraignment and pre-trial. After the trial, the presentation of evidence will be conducted, he added.

Garcia also said that Caluag’s case is not the first that reached the RTC level, as the Comelec previously filed vote-buying complaints in Malabon and Navotas but these were dismissed by the courts.

Vote-buying is considered an election offense under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code.

Complainant Alvin Garcia alleged that Caluag, and Julmar Mercado, a barangay councilor candidate in the 2023 BSKE, campaigned and engaged in vote-buying at Caluag’s office.

The complainant also said that Mercado distributed P1,500 in cash, disguised as program payouts, to entice voters to vote for him and Melchor Caluag, who ran as barangay captain that time.

Caluag previously clarified in a statement that the case has nothing to do with her mayoral bid for the upcoming elections.

The incumbent mayor is seeking a re-election in the May 2025 elections.