• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A man was intercepted and arrested for alleged vote buying at a checkpoint in Barangay Lutao, Bacong, Negros Oriental on Saturday, a police report said.
Romnick Viola Adalim, 36, was driving a black XRM Honda motorcycle when he was flagged down by troopers of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion for not wearing a helmet.
When he was asked to present registration documents, Adalim opened his utility box and upon inspection, the police saw 39 white envelopes, each containing P900 cash, stapled to sample ballots of certain candidates for the May 12 elections.
Nine other white envelopes only contained sample ballots.
The cash confiscated totaled P35,100, the report said.
Adalim is facing charges for violation of the Commission on Elections Resolution No. 11104 or the “Kontra-Bigay” policy.
In a statement, PBrig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, regional director of Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region, reiterated the commitment of the Philippine National Police to ensuring a clean, honest, and orderly election by strictly enforcing election laws and upholding the integrity of the electoral process in the region. | GB
