Voting for certain partylist groups cannot triple a vote for presidential aspirant Leni Robredo, contrary to a false claim on a Facebook page with a large following.
In a May 9 post on Facebook page “BEST Friends community”, Facebook user Khun Young falsely claimed that votes for 22 party-list groups in particular will automatically result in three times more votes for Robredo even if the votes are cast for her rival, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Its caption read:
PLEASE SPREAD KAPAG BINOTO NYU ANG MGA PARTYLIST NA YAN KAHIT SI BBM ANG NAISHADE NYU 3X NA VOTE LENI ROBREDO ANG LALABAS. (Please spread the word if you voted for these partylists, even if you voted for Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., three times more votes for Robredo will appear.)
The post wrongly included in the list 13 progressive organizations and political parties that are not partylists in this year’s polls. These are Anakbayan, Anakpawis, Piston, Kadamay, Katribu, Migrante, League of Filipino Students, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Pasaka, Partido Manggagawa, Aksyon Health, Karapatan and Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino. The post also wrongly spelled the Magsasaka partylist as “Magasaka.”
Voters can only select one candidate for president and one party-list group. A partylist vote has no bearing on one’s presidential vote since the vote counting machines only consider votes shaded under each position.
Ballots are divided according to positions and laid out in such a way that the presidential bets are placed on the front and the party-list choices on the back, as shown by the Commission on Elections’ ballot face templates.
The image embedded in the Facebook post also baselessly linked the 22 groups to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Progressive partylists such as Kabataan and Gabriela have previously slammed red-tagging claims against them as attacks against government critics.
The Facebook page has 89,421 likes and 89,011 followers. (JC)