MANILA — Voters should refrain from placing bets on poll results on May 9, which is illegal and could lead to jail time, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said Wednesday.

"Siyempre bawal na bawal yung wagering sa mismong araw ng election kung sino mananalo. Ipinagbabawal po natin yan, may probisyon sa Omnibus Election Code na kulong po iyan," commissioner George Garcia said.

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(Of course, wagering on who will win is prohibited during election day. We ban that and there is a provision in the Omnibus Election Code for imprisonment.)

Garcia also reiterated previous warnings against vote-buying.

"Hindi pinag-uusapan ang presyo upang sabihin na vote buying. Basta very clear ang intention, namigay ka, kahit in cash or in kind [at ang] purpose is really to induce the voter to vote for the candidate, that is already vote buying," Garcia said.

(One does not need to talk about price to be considered as engaging in vote-buying. As long as the intention is very clear, you gave out something, whether cash or in kind and the purpose is induce the voter to vote for the candidate, that is already vote buying.)

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Garcia said vote-buying is committed even if the voter rejected the offer.

"Even an attempt is already considered vote-buying," Garcia said, citing the Omnibus Election Code.

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