BUSTOS, Bulacan—A vice mayoralty candidate in this town cries of political harassment over claims of fabricated vote buying incidents which caused the Commission on Election (Comelec) to issue a Show Cause Order (SCO) against him on Sunday.
The Comelec gave an SCO against re-electionist Vice Mayor Martin Angeles of National Unity Party (NUP) over an alleged vote buying activity inside his headquarters in Barangay Malamig.
Comelec Region 3 Assistant Regional Director Elmo Duque confirmed the SCO order signed by Comelec Regional Office 3 Attorney Numer Lobo against the vice mayor.
The SCO wants Angeles to explain within three days why disqualification charges and election offense should not be filed against him over the said alleged vote buying complaints.
Angeles told reporters on Sunday afternoon that he will answer the Comelec’s SCO in no less than three days. He said he is being linked to an alleged vote buying incident with just a P1,000 bill and sample ballots but which can be easily fabricated by anyone.
He said social media posts of an alleged P1,000 bill with sample ballots were linked to him after a group of individuals who posted as Comelec officers and members of the media suddenly barged inside his headquarters on Saturday evening after allegedly receiving reports of vote buying. A village official in Malamig made the report.
“Anyone can do that and post that. Why are they linking me to fabricated claims? I will answer that before the Comelec. It would be vote buying if I was taken off video footage that I am giving money and sample ballots to people,” he said. He said he was not even there when the “fake raid” took place.
Angeles camp took videos of the said “orchestrated raid” where they identified who posed as a Comelec official as an employee of a city government in Bulacan. Those who posed as media, wearing “MEDIA” marked vests wore face masks and could not be immediately identified through video.
Angeles expressed frustration that politics in Bustos today has been tainted with dirt because of some individuals.
“If this can be done to a re-electionist vice mayor like me, they can do it to other people. It is really frustrating and saddening,” Angeles added.
Angeles told NEWSCORE that he and his legal team are contemplating on filing charges against those who staged the orchestrated raid by posung as Comelec officials and media personalities.
