THE Supreme Court (SC) en banc yesterday upheld the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify former General Luna mayor Matt Erwin Florido from running as representative of the third legislative district of Quezon province in the May 12, 2025 polls due to vote buying.
Although Florido lost in the election to re-electionist Reynante Arrogancia, the SCen banc said it decided to resolve the case to remove any doubts about the legality of the Comelec’s decision.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a group of residents in Buenavista, Quezon alleging that during a gathering, allegedly to solicit votes for Florido on April 5 and 6, his camp supposedly distributed P1,000 bills along with free food and shirt, aside from providing transportation, to the participants.
Florido denied the allegations and filed a petition for certiorari with the SC, claiming the poll body acted with grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying him from the congressional race.
He said that the gathering was meant only for his campaign volunteers, not for the general public.
But the High Court upheld the Comelec’s decision, saying it was supported by substantial evidence.
It also noted that the gathering was not exclusive to Florido’s campaign staff as he claimed, and was clearly intended to gain electoral support.
Further, it said that the distribution of cash and other items was not liquidated or documented, contradicting Florido’s arguments that these were campaign-related expenses.
The lack of receipts, logbooks or other records, according to the SC, indicated the funds were used to influence voters, constituting vote buying punishable under the Omnibus Election Code.
“Florido’s active presence in the event, including delivering a campaign speech and interacting with attendees also showed his knowledge and implied approval of the vote-buying activities,” a briefer provided by the SC said.
The SC has yet to release a copy of the full en banc decision on the case.
