Fiscal drops ‘vote-buying’ rap vs. Negros Oriental barangay treasurer
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NO TO VOTE-BUYING. A barangay official who was arrested for “vote-buying” in Bacong, Negros Oriental answers a police investigator’s questions on Saturday (May 10, 2025). (Photo courtesy of the Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region)
DUMAGUETE CITY — The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Negros Oriental has dismissed the “vote-buying” complaint against a barangay (village) treasurer in Bacong town, Negros Oriental province.
The treasurer was arrested over the weekend.
Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO), gave the information during a press conference on Monday at the Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center (PEMAC).
He said the prosecutor dismissed the case against treasurer Romnick Adalim for “lack of probable cause.”
The complaint filed was “reverted to the Kontra Bigay Committee” as a result.
Polinar said the committee will determine the merits of the complaint for violation of Comelec Resolution No. 11104 or the “Kontra-Bigay” policy.
Adalim, 36, a resident of Barangay Combado in Bacong, was apprehended on Saturday afternoon.
Police flagged him down at a checkpoint for driving a motorcycle without wearing a helmet.
The cops asked for his driver’s license and registration papers.
As he voluntarily opened his U-box, they found white envelopes with sample ballots of local candidates and cash inside.
A total of 39 envelopes were found, each containing P900 in various denominations, amounting to P35,100 in total.
Polinar said Adalim was released on Sunday.
The sample ballots and money are under police custody as evidence for the Kontra Bigay committee’s future filing of a case against him.
This incident, so far, is the only suspected vote-buying reported in Negros Oriental.
Lionel Marco Castillano, Commission on Elections-Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR) director, said “we will refer the evidence to the Committee on Kontra Bigay in Manila for further investigation.”
“If it warrants that a case will be filed later on, then it will be ongoing,” he added.
Castillano explained that on election offenses, the fiscal’s office and the law department of the Comelec have “concurrent jurisdiction” over a case.
Even after the election is over, a case may still be filed against an individual for vote-buying “because an election offense has a five-year prescription period,” he noted./apl
