Vote buying in Mindanao? NTC probes phone sale spike

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) would be shedding light on speculations that a big spike in mobile phone sales in Mindanao might be related to vote-buying or other poll anomalies.

Comelec acting spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said they are waiting for the NTC’s feedback, following reports of increased sales of mobile phones in Surigao del Sur.

“We are in close coordination with the National Telecommunication

Commission,” Laudiangco said. “They will be the ones to give feedback to us if they detected any anomaly.”

So far, the Comelec has not received reports related to the supposed incident from the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“The PNP has not reported any untoward incident regarding that, and we are likewise basing this on the assessment of the AFP,” Laudiangco said. “(The) AFP and PNP have cyber watch divisions that include monitoring these matters – the internet and communications facilities.”

Speaking from a lawyer’s point of view, he said the escalation of purchases of cellphones, in itself, does not automatically mean anomalies or a crime has been committed. “In fact, this is not a crime,” he said.

As to reports that there were 20,000 attempts to hack the Comelec website before and during the May 9 polls, Laudiangco said that these incidents “were something to note, but not necessarily a cause of concern.”

He said the Comelec, along with its allied agencies, had been preparing for the May 9 national and local elections (NLE) months and years ahead.