Comelec Caraga cracks down on fake news peddlers in Agusan del Sur, Butuan City
General Luna, Surigao del Norte – Within a week, the Commission on Elections in the Caraga region has issued show-cause orders to three individuals accused of spreading false information about the May 12 national and local elections.
The recent case is in Butuan City, where Johnley Tutor Buladaco, a poll watcher for mayoral candidate Charito ‘Ching’ Plaza, was issued a show-cause order on May 8.
City Election Officer Tristan Niog said that Buladaco filed a formal complaint on May 6, which was received by the electoral board that same evening. The complaint alleged irregularities during the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) of the Automated Counting Machine (ACM) conducted in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, on the same day.
The letter, circulated online, claimed that Buladaco cast two test ballots during the FTS process to verify the accuracy of the vote-counting machine.
“I properly shaded the name of Ching Plaza for mayor and selected the complete slate of 9 councilors under the Bag-ong Butuan team. However, upon checking the election returns generated by the machine, it instead reflected Lawrence Fortun as the chosen mayor and listed 12 councilors under the One Butuan slate, contrary to what was indicated on the actual ballot and the corresponding voter’s receipt. Both the ballot and the voter’s receipt accurately showed my intended selections, yet the ER did not,” Buladaco said.
Comelec released a statement on May 9 calling the circulating news about the FTS discrepancies in Butuan “fake news.”
Comelec explained that, to prove there were no discrepancies in the FTS results, the Electoral Board conducted a manual recount and verification of the ballots and compared them with the voter receipts and election returns in the presence of media representatives and Comelec’s accredited citizens’ arms.
“The result – all votes accounted for. The vote count on the ballots tallied and matched the votes in the voter receipts and election returns,” the statement read.
The Comelec reiterated that there is no place for false or misleading information in the May 12, 2025, National and Local Elections.
Niog, accompanied by police and media, attempted to serve the show-cause order to Buladaco on May 8 but was unsuccessful, as he was not at his last known address in Barangay Santo Niño.
Niog said they would send the order by mail instead, noting that Buladaco is required to respond within five days.
In connection with the same issue regarding the FTS, the Comelec also served a show-cause order to Marilou Jumalon Montefalcon, a resident of Butuan City, on May 10 for social media posts that spread false information about the FTS.
Montefalcon’s posts, which have since been deleted, claimed:
“Hoooy kuyaw maning machines sa Butuan!!! Ilaron man ta kay kunuhay same ang resibo mugawas sa tinuod nga gi butaran pero ang mutatak ug mo count sa machine lahi man. Mao na ni ilang giingun nga sigurado na ang 15-0? Hahaha way klaro gihapon.”
Montefalcon claimed that the vote-counting machines in Butuan were malfunctioning. She alleged that, despite the receipt showing the correct vote, the machine marked and counted a different selection. She also suggested that the election results were pre-determined, referring to a “guaranteed 15-0 win,” implying a rigged outcome.
In Agusan del Sur, a show-cause order was issued to Arlyn Balisbis Poliga of Talacogon town on May 8 by Comelec Talacogon.
This order was in response to a Facebook post Poliga made on May 1, in which she claimed that barangay workers in Del Monte had been instructed by incumbent Mayor Pauline Marie Masendo to vote early.
The post, which has since been deleted, read in Bisaya:
“Hello #teammacdaycurato, magbantay mo kay naa nay mga barangay worker nga gipaboto na daan sa Mayora… sa Del Monte.”
#teammacdaycurato refers to the camp of MacDaddy Curato, who is running against Masendo in the upcoming elections.
Ernie Palanan, the provincial election supervisor of Agusan del Sur, who requested the show-cause order on May 4, emphasized that posts like Poliga’s could undermine public trust in the electoral process.
“This type of public post was designed to undermine the integrity of our electoral process. The same should not be tolerated; at least it would destroy the trust of the voting public in our electoral process,” Palanan said in a Facebook post.
Comelec reminded the public that spreading false and alarming information is a violation of Section 261(z)(11) of the Omnibus Election Code and may result in legal action.
