Malacañang exec clears Kris of vote buying

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday came to the defense of President Aquino’s celebrity sister Kris whom Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes hinted may have committed vote buying when she paid a Cebu-based taxi driver P1,000 for agreeing to vote for her candidates.

“We respect Chairman Brilliantes’ opinion but disagree with it. It is apparent that Kris decided to let the taxi driver keep the change after he made it known to her that he was voting for the three candidates,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

In a text message the Palace undersecretary sent to reporters, Valte said the cab driver “needed no persuasion nor was the money given in exchange for his vote as defined by the law.”

Kris, a popular TV talk show host, disclosed last week that she took a cab when she arrived in Cebu, saying the so-called Queen City of the South is a safe place.

Kris, dubbed as the “queen of all media,” said she was grateful that the driver readily agreed to her favorite senatorial candidates Francis Escudero, Grace Poe and Bam Aquino, and doubled the P500 bill, telling him to keep the change of the P1,000 she gave him.

But Brillantes, a veteran election lawyer, hinted problems may arise even if Kris is not a candidate, and only made the payment for the services the taxi driver rendered, and was just magnanimous enough not to demand for any change.

“It was not given as compensation for the driver’s vote. It was not like that. She had just told him to keep the change,” Valte said. “That’s not within the definition of vote buying.”

But Brillantes said, “I don’t know if she will admit it under oath. I will not make any conclusion. (But) it would appear that there is.” 

“But if that is her story, is she willing to repeat it? And then we also have to see if it will qualify as vote buying. It won’t be easy,” he said.

“As far as she is concerned, she does not find anything wrong with it. Maybe she just felt happy when the driver said okay to those she was campaigning for. The way I look at it, it was done in good faith,” he added though.