Vote-buying raps vs construction worker dismissed

May 9, 2022 by No Comments

FOR lack of probable cause, the charges for violation of Section 261 (A) of Omnibus Election Code for Vote Buying filed against a construction worker in San Enrique town, Negros Occidental was dismissed by the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office Monday, May 9.Case investigator Staff Sergeant Romias Losarito said the inquest prosecutor ordered the immediate release of Dindo Tolosa, 56, of Vagallon Street in Sitio Panalsalan of the town’s Barangay Poblacion.Losarito said the release order of Tolosa was approved by the Negros Occidental provincial chief prosecutor.In dismissing the complaint against Tolosa, the inquest prosecutor stressed that there was no proof that the vote-buying activity had taken place aside from the fact that the validity of the arrest is also being questioned.Around 11 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Tolosa was driving his tricycle when he was flagged down by Barangay Tibsoc Kagawad Juno Benitez, who was with an unidentified tanod.Benitez asked Tolosa where he was heading and the latter replied that he was on his way to Sitio Mague to deliver something, although he did not mention the name of the person he was about to meet.The barangay official checked Tolosa’s things and saw a transparent plastic envelope containing a white ordinary envelope with marked party list No. 99 “Uswag Ilonggo.”A shaded sample ballot, P2,100 in cash and a leaflet of Uswag Ilonggo partylist were reportedly recovered from Tolosa, police records showed.But Tolosa maintained that he was only asked to deliver the envelope and has no idea what was its content.