Zamora faces vote buying rap

MANILA, Philippines - Two San Juan City residents filed charges against defeated mayoral candidate Francis Zamora yesterday for allegedly using money to compel them to support a petition for a recall election against Mayor Guia Gomez.

Residents Lucila Robles and Veradel Surmieda accused Zamora of vote buying and undue influence before the Commission on Elections.   

The charges against Zamora came after his supporters filed the petition against Gomez last week, accusing her of “graft and corruption, incompetence, abuse of power and dereliction of duty.”  

City government personnel accompanied Robles and Surmieda in filing charges against Zamora. Gomez’s aides denied personally knowing the complainants and insisted that the mayor had nothing to do with the case against Zamora.

The complainants said Zamora used the educational assistance program of his father, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, to force them to sign the recall petition.

They said that in July last year, they went to the elder Zamora’s office and were required to sign a piece of paper before they could receive P2,500 cash assistance.

Robles and Surmieda said they only realized later on that their signatures were used in the filing of the recall petition.

Both complainants claimed that they have long been receiving educational assistance from Zamora but were not required to sign any document in the past.