From e-cash to ayuda: The many ways corrupt bets buy votes
ELECTIONS composite image from Inquirer file/stock photos
MANILA, Philippines — A few days before election day in 2022, a sari-sari store in a province in Luzon, located beside a river, became a hit in an instant, with people arriving, one by one, starting from dawn to late evening.
It was as if there was a distribution of government assistance, or ayuda, from the congressman or local chief executive as people were bringing home canned sardines, noodles, rice, and even soap and shampoo, all packed in a plastic bag.
But there was none.
Lowel (not his real name), the owner of the sari-sari store, told INQUIRER.net on the condition that he will not be identified that he was asked to give out P1,000 worth of goods to selected residents of their barangay.
READ: INQUIRER.net’s 2025 Philippine Elections Coverage
This, as he received thousands of pesos from someone representing a local candidate a week before the election in 2022: “Dapat talaga ay ibibigay sa mga tao bilang pera pero para hindi mauwi sa wala, kinonvert na lang namin sa pagkain at iba pang gamit sa bahay (Cash should have been given but to avoid waste it was converted to goods).”
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan/INQUIRER.net
As stated in the Omnibus Election Code, “any person who gives, offers or promises monies or anything of value […] to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election” shall be liable for an election offense.
READ: EXPLAINER: Vote-buying, selling
It is likewise prohibited “to give or promise any office or employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or make or offer to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity, or community.”
The law penalizes both the vote-buyer and vote-seller.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan/INQUIRER.net
Even with this, however, a lot, or 66 percent of Filipinos, still expect the illegal practice to be widespread on the days leading to May 12 and on election day. Some 34 percent think otherwise, Octa Research said.
READ: OCTA: Most Pinoys think vote-buying still rife; Comelec seeks help
The research center J. Poverty Action Lab stressed that vote-buying and vote-selling obstruct the democratic process, yet they remain pervasive in many developing democracies such as the Philippines.
Especially on election day, “voters know that it is happening near and around polling centers through delegated vote brokers or trusted persons of the candidates, however, it is very difficult to prove […] since it is clandestinely done,” it said.
READ: Malacañang declares election day a holiday
Based on a survey conducted by Octa Research from Feb. 22 to 28 with 1,200 respondents, 68 percent of Filipinos expect vote-buying to have a negative impact, while only 32 percent think otherwise.
RELATED STORY: 2025 elections: What’s old, new
Vote-buying, however, is not only giving or promising anything of value or making or offering to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity, or community.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan/INQUIRER.net
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in Resolution No. 11104, that some activities, along with the possession of campaign materials and other corroborative evidence, shall be presumed to be vote-buying and vote-selling.
Gov’t ayuda to get votes
Back in March, the head of the Comelec’s Committee on Kontra Bigay, Commissioner Ernest Maceda, pointed out that aside from the usual vote-buying schemes, “we have expanded our focus to include the misuse of state resources.”
READ: Poll watchdog opposes plan to ban all ‘ayuda’ 10 days before polls
As Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said, distribution of financial assistance, like the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) is prohibited 10 days before election day, except for medical and burial assistance.
The ayuda being given through AICS and AKAP is worth P1,000 to P10,000, depending on the assessment made by social workers. Likewise prohibited are the payouts for the 4Ps and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers.
E-Cash
The Comelec stressed, as well, that the giving of money through digital or online banking transactions or any other mobile wallet applications shall constitute vote-buying, which has a penalty of imprisonment of one year to six years.
For this reason, GCash has already imposed a temporary daily transaction limit on “Express Send” and “Send via QR” to prevent the e-wallet application from being used for vote-buying ahead of the election.
READ: GCash sets transaction limits to curb vote buying in 2025 polls
“GCash will monitor transactions to ensure that these will not be used in illegal election activities. You can transact the day after if the daily limit is reached,” GCash said in Filipino in an article on its website.
‘Premyo lang naman’
While it may seem legal, the Comelec said the conduct of bingo games, talent competitions or other similar activities that involve the distribution of cash prizes by the candidates or their supporters, is prohibited.
As stated, even when candidates or their supporters are not the ones giving the reward, the conduct is still considered illegal if the names of the candidates are mentioned, or if the event is held in a place where the names or the pictures of the candidates are displayed or visible.
Because of this, some barangays decided to postpone the celebration of their fiestas.
Employment of ‘watchers’
Poll-watchers, or individuals who are asked by candidates to observe the conduct of the election, can be compensated, so the Comelec said the hiring or appointment of more than two poll-watchers for each precinct for a single candidate, shall be presumed as vote-buying.
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As stated in Section 48 of the Omnibus Election Code, candidates may have two watchers each, to serve alternately, in every polling place within the barangay, who shall be furnished with a signed copy of the results of the election immediately after the completion of the canvass.
The conduct of medical missions, legal aid services, feeding programs or any caravan in a certain barangay, in which the names of the candidates are mentioned, or those conducted in a place where the name or picture of a candidate is visible or displayed, is prohibited, as well.
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