𝗖𝗲𝗻𝗣𝗘𝗚 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀; 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶

𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 28, 2025.- The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) today expressed deep concern over the reported 158 cases of vote buying, vote selling, and abuse of government resources filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the ongoing 2025 election season.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 — 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙙𝙮𝙣𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨,” said CenPEG Chairperson, Professor Roland Simbulan. “𝙑𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.”

CenPEG warned that the recurring use of state machinery for partisan ends not only undermines the sanctity of the electoral process but also deepens inequality, disenfranchises marginalized communities, and stalls democratic development. The think tank emphasized that political dynasties — often acting like ‘private corporations’ — leverage public funds and coercive influence to maintain their grip on power.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨,” Simbulan added. “𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮.”

CenPEG urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and other oversight bodies to move swiftly and decisively on the reported cases. Beyond legal remedies, CenPEG called for sustained political education, robust electoral reforms — including the passage of an anti-dynasty law — and stronger public engagement to dismantle the deeply rooted culture of patronage.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙮𝙣𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚,” Simbulan stressed.

CenPEG commits to continuing its advocacy and research work to promote genuine democratic participation, accountability, and good governance in the Philippines.###