GCash imposes transaction caps amid rising vote-buying concerns

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced Tuesday, April 1 that GCash, a major e-wallet in the Philippines, has imposed transaction limits ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.

Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, Comelec Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda said the poll body has partnered with e-wallets GCash and Maya since the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to combat vote-buying.

GCash had issued an advisory stating that daily transaction limits will be enforced until May 12, 2025, with normal operations resuming on May 13.

While details as to whether other online banks will impose a cap are uncertain, but Maceda estimated that if implemented, these would likely take effect closer to election day, as vote-buying incidents tend to peak during this period.

“This is a big deal because online transactions are part of the new ways of buying votes,” Maceda said in Filipino.

Vote-buying patterns. Comelec’s findings from focus group discussions confirmed that online transactions are being exploited for vote-buying. The poll body observed patterns where a single phone number made multiple transactions to different recipients, all with identical amounts. Such behavior could be flagged as suspicious by e-wallet companies.

Maceda also disclosed Comelec had already received complaints of vote-buying even before the official campaign period for local elections began.

“Well, as of this morning we’ve received 34 complaints here in the main office—23 are on vote-buying and vote-selling; there are around 11 that reference abuse of state resources,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

These figures, however, are significantly lower compared to previous elections.

In the 2022 national elections, Comelec recorded 1,226 reports of vote-buying and selling. For the Sangguniang Kabataan elections in 2023, 375 cases were recorded.

Historically, most cases of vote-buying and selling have been reported in the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by Region IV-A or Calabarzon. But this data could, Maceda said could either be because NCR’s higher numbers reflect more rampant practices or because voters are more aware of their rights.

COMELEC has formed a ‘Kontra Bigay’ Committee, which translates to “Anti-gifting”. It was originally formed in 2019 as a task force. However, a task force only lasted one election cycle. Forming this committee made Comelec’s efforts more institutional, Maceda said.

Source: Philstar.com