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By NITZ ARANCON, Correspondent .

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) here has found probable cause to charge a barangay chairman in the city for alleged vote buying and using flying voters to his advantage during last year’s barangay elections.

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In a nine-page resolution, city elections officer Ramil Acol said Barangay 35 chairman Jose Ligtas was found liable for violation of Section 89 of the Omnibus Elections Code during the May 14, 2018 barangay elections.

The Feb. 8, 2019 resolution, a copy of which was furnished to this paper, showed Acol favoring the filing of a criminal case against Ligtas for vote buying.

Acol’s resolution stemmed from the complaint filed by Ligtas’s rival Norma Gabisan in the 2018 elections.

Acol said Gabisan showed evidence that voters from Barangay Camaman-an were made to vote for Ligtas in Barangay 35.

The Comelec here said Ligtas presented a weak defense against the accusation that he engaged in vote buying and was responsible for making Camaman-an voters cast their ballots in Barangay 35.

Gabisan said she had witnesses who saw Ligtas treating the Camaman-an voters to a meal the night before the elections. The group of voters, according to Gabisan, were even seen being brought to Barangay 35 using a van owned by Ligtas.

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