‘Stop vote-buying,’ Comelec orders PNP

INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Sunday ordered the Philippine National Police to arrest even without a warrant individuals and groups caught in the act of vote-buying.

The directive followed reports by local poll watchdogs and international observers of rampant vote-buying in different parts of the country.

Comelec Chair George Garcia said vote-buying activities would reach their climax from the weekend until Election Day itself and directed the PNP to also maximize its operations against these prohibited acts.

According to Garcia, the Comelec’s kontra bigay committee received more than 500 reports of vote-buying incidents across the country since February, in which around 200 candidates, mostly local bets, were served show-cause orders.

The problem, Garcia noted, was that the PNP Legal Service issued its own opinion barring police personnel from effecting warrantless arrests on those caught in the act of vote-buying.

“I’m sorry if that’s the PNP’s interpretation of the law, but the Comelec en banc will also issue a resolution practically telling them that their interpretation is not right,” Garcia told reporters at the Manila Hotel Tent City in Manila, where the national board of canvassers will convene.

Legal basis

“The reason why vote-buying is still prevalent is because there are no uniformed men who will arrest them because they wrongly believe that they cannot do warrantless arrests,” he added. “If a crime is committed right in front of you, do you still have to go to the court at the City Hall to obtain that warrant of arrest? Of course not, because a law enforcement authority can arrest them without a warrant.”

The Comelec en banc issued on Sunday a memorandum directing the PNP as its deputized agent to strictly comply with Comelec Resolution No. 11104, which enumerates acts considered and presumed to be vote-buying, vote-selling, and abuse of state resources.

Under Sections 14(h) and 15 (c) of the resolution, any law enforcement officer, including those from the PNP and National Bureau of Investigation, may, without a warrant, arrest a person when, in the presence of such officer, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an election offense such as vote-buying.

The Comelec law department, which recommended the legality of the warrantless arrest in connection with election campaign offenses, cited Section 5, Rule 113 of the 2000 Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court.

“A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person when in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense,” it noted.

Garcia said they “will definitely protect” police officers who may face legal consequences for enforcing warrantless arrests against vote buyers.

“A warrantless arrest is allowed based on the 1987 Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court, especially if the person being arrested is caught in flagrante delicto or caught in the act of committing a crime,” he said in a radio interview also on Sunday.

“Our instruction to the PNP as our deputized agent is to stop vote-buying. Arrest people even without a warrant because that is a blatant crime being committed in front of us,” Garcia added. —with reports from Gillian Villanueva, Frances Mangosing, Melvin Gascon, and Inquirer Visayas