The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has coordinated with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and online payment platforms to automatically flag and report suspicious single transactions above a threshold amount sent to the same individual during election periods.
This is new mechanism designed by the government to catch politicians using digital money transfers to buy votes, COMELEC Commissioner Rey Bulay said Monday.
Bulay explained the details in a live studio interview on DZRH News program The Situation Report on September 14, describing COMELEC’s most recent innovation in fighting vote buying as campaigns have moved from cash to digital transactions.
The commissioner said payment platforms now actively monitor for transactions that fit the profile of vote buying and report them directly to COMELEC.
“Kinausap namin ang payment platforms with the Central Bank kaya medyo tumulong sila sa amin. Halimbawa, anything higher than this amount dito sa tao na ito, single transaction ‘yun, huli. Nagre-report sa amin ‘yung payment platform,” Bulay said.
Bulay acknowledged that sophisticated vote buyers attempt to get around the system by splitting transactions into smaller amounts across multiple transfers, but said COMELEC is aware of and prepared for that tactic.
“Pero kung creative siya, he has to have many,” he said, adding that multiple transactions to the same recipient in a short period also raise flags under the monitoring system.
The commissioner said the digital vote-buying detection system is part of COMELEC’s efforts to adapt its enforcement capabilities to the evolving methods that candidates use to influence voters, as cash handouts have increasingly been replaced by e-wallet transfers, online banking credits, and other digital payment methods.
