3 days ago
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Actions are being taken by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) hand in hand with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prevent the use of both cash and e-wallet services in vote-buying during the upcoming elections, the central bank said.
This comes after Comelec called on the BSP to decline client requests to break larger bills into smaller denominations a week or two before election day on May 12, 2025.
“The BSP is working with Comelec to explore measures aimed at preventing the misuse of both cash and digital financial channels in relation to electoral matters,” the central bank told Manila Bulletin on March 11, Tuesday.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia earlier said that the “change of paper money into smaller bills such as ₱100 or ₱200 should be prohibited a week or two weeks before election day.”
Garcia had explained that political candidates usually break large bills such as a ₱1,000 bill to create the illusion of a thick stack of cash, making their giveaways appear more impressive to voters.
He had noted that vote-buying usually occurs just two to three days before elections, not a month ahead.
Calling the upcoming midterm elections crucial, the Comelec chief had stressed the need for vigilance in monitoring e-wallets and similar platforms.
But he had also noted that vote-buying will likely return to cash distribution as e-wallet transactions have already been flagged.
Last month, Comelec signed an agreement with government agencies, law enforcement, election watchdogs, and e-wallet firms to assist its Kontra Bigay Committee in curbing vote-buying and selling. This measure is expected to slash vote-buying incidents by up to 25 percent this year.
Previously in 2022, months before the presidential elections, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) ordered banks and financial institutions to monitor suspicious funds used for digital vote-buying and selling.
Vote-buying happens when a political candidate or team offers money, gifts, jobs, or other benefits to sway voters in favor of them or against their opponents. This includes direct or indirect transactions aimed at changing election results.
Likewise, weeks before the 2023 local elections, the BSP called for stricter monitoring to prevent financial institutions from being used for illicit transactions.
BSP-supervised banks and financial institutions (BSFIs) were also urged to strengthen controls to detect and prevent fraudulent accounts and transactions ahead of the elections.
Major red flags, the BSP had said, include a surge in account registrations in vote-buying hotspots, large cash transactions during the election period, unusual transaction patterns, and abnormal cash flow volumes through agents.
According to Memorandum No. M-2023-30, a banking regulation released in late 2023, BSFIs must report suspicious transactions to the AMLC, “when warranted after due investigation of complex, unusually large transactions, unusual patterns of transactions, which have no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification, or the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial profile of the client, and other transactions that may be considered suspicious.”
