Witness recants testimony in alleged vote-buying case in QC

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The witness also claims to have been paid P60,000 to falsely accuse the Suntay camp

MANILA, Philippines – A witness in the alleged vote-buying scheme in Quezon City has recanted his statement, claiming he was coerced and manipulated by the camp of incumbent 4th District Representative Marvin Rillo to discredit rival former representative Bong Suntay and his two allied councilor candidates.

Bong Suntay is seeking a comeback as representative of Quezon City’s 4th District, while Migs Suntay and Kiko del Mundo are running for councilor. All three are running under the “Team Serbisyo” slate.

According to a press release from the Suntay camp, Kevin “Angel” Roissing, in an affidavit on Friday, April 11, claimed he was forced to appear at a press conference to falsely accuse Bong Suntay, Migs Suntay, and Del Mundo of vote-buying — a charge that has also been filed with the Commission on Elections.

“Ang gusto po ng kampo ni Rillo ay baligtarin ko yung senaryo at mag-file ng graft and corruption laban kay Atty. Suntay. Dahil wala silang makuhang ebidensya, naisip nilang mag-file ng vote-buying,” Rossing said.

(What Rillo’s camp wanted was for me to twist the story and file a graft and corruption case against Atty. Suntay. Since they couldn’t find any evidence, they decided to file a vote-buying case instead.)

Rossing, in his affidavit, also disclosed that Rillo, Jesus Falcis, and Janno Orate of Quezon City Against Corruption were behind the alleged smear campaign.

Rossing also claimed that he was paid an initial P10,000 to falsely accuse Suntay camp. This was followed by another P50,000.

According to the Suntay camp, Rossing’s affidavit was submitted with two flash drives containing a voluntarily recorded video.

Vote-buying and vote-selling are listed as election offenses under the Omnibus Election Code. Candidates guilty of election offenses will be disqualified from holding public office and deprived of their right to vote. – Rappler.com