Radaza files complaint vs. alleged politicization of Comelec VIS

Former Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza. (File photo)

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – The PDP-Laban Lapu-Lapu City, led by former mayor Paz Radaza, has filed a complaint before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) – Lapu-Lapu City against the alleged politicization of the Comelec’s Voters Information Sheet (VIS).

The complaint, dated April 10, 2025, was received by the Comelec the following day, April 11.

Comelec recently rolled out its latest voter information campaign. As part of this campaign, VIS are being distributed to voters, containing their personal information, precinct numbers, voting instructions, and a sample ballot.

Radaza’s complaint stemmed from a video circulating online showing a barangay captain in Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City, allegedly using the VIS for campaigning purposes.

CDN Digital has withheld the name of the barangay captain and the barangay pending his response to the allegation.

In the video, the alleged barangay captain is heard saying that they will collect the VIS of “their” people so that supporters of the opposing camp would be left out — an apparent confirmation of partisan involvement in the distribution of the VIS. This, Radaza said, undermines the Comelec’s information campaign.

In her complaint, Radaza stated: “[A]s we all know, especially with the recent pronouncement of the Comelec, barangay officials are partisan as they are allegedly allowed to actively participate in political activities. To allow or at least tolerate their involvement in the distribution of VIS will not only politicize this new Comelec information dissemination program. Worse, it will shamelessly betray the Comelec’s supposed mandate for fair elections, as the VIS would just be reduced to a state-sponsored campaign tool for the administration’s slate, to the prejudice of other candidates.”

Radaza also claimed that the administration’s camp continues to distribute the VIS through their barangay workers, while PDP-Laban Lapu-Lapu City has not received any response from the Comelec office three days after the complaint was filed.

She called for the barangay captain to be penalized and for appropriate sanctions to be imposed as warranted under the law. Radaza also urged that barangay officials — or any partisan individuals — be prohibited from participating in any manner in the distribution of the VIS.

The former mayor also asked the Comelec to actively take its role seriously in the achievement of fair elections, and that Comelec to finally stop from playing blind and deaf to offenses committed in the City. FAI

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