Suspected counterfeit bills worth P699,000 were seized by the authorities in an abandoned car in Roxas City, Capiz, on Sunday, October 29, despite the money ban implemented for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) 2023.

According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Roxas City Police received and responded to a tip given to their office about the vehicle parked in Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center (TATC) on Saturday.

Law enforcers, headed by Roxas City Police Chief PLtCol. Francisco Paguia, found bundles of suspected counterfeit P1,000 bills and a total of P4,170 genuine bills during a virtual search.

The alleged fake money will be submitted to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for verification while the abandoned vehicle is placed at the city police station for proper disposition.

Moreover, the Comelec explained that the counterfeit bills may not be covered by its Kontra-BIgay campaign, which has been implemented to heighten the policies against vote-buying and selling, since there were no campaign materials recovered alongside the fake money.

Under Omnibus Election Code, giving money or anything of value, as well as making promises to any office or employment and offering to make someone vote for or against a certain candidate, are considered vote-buying.

Meanwhile, money ban has been imposed to avoid the BSKE candidates to give out cash to the voters, not allowing anyone from bringing cash that is worth of P500,000, and any form of online transactions to 20 people or more.