The head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Sunday said presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar caused a “self-inflicted wound” when he distributed 20-peso bills to poor children while campaigning in Batangas province last Friday. However, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo stopped short of calling Villar's act as vote buying, which is a ground for disqualification. “Offhand, I would say it's a self-inflicted wound,” Melo told ANC Television, the cable channel of the ABS-CBN media network. “He should not have done that. Had he refrained from doing that, there would not be a debate on whether it's vote buying or not,” Melo added. Melo said the commission plans to look into the incident and ask Villar to answer if an opponent files a disqualification case against him. “We can ask the person involved to explain. It's a decision that we have to discuss,” he said. Melo, a former Supreme Court associate justice, said Villar's case “may not be legally punishable” because the amount of money he gave away appeared to be insignificant and that this was not repeated in the other areas he visited. “But still, the propriety of the act is questionable,” he said. The Comelec chief asked other candidates not to commit the same mistake “so that heartaches can be avoided.” He warned that a candidate may be charged for vote buying even if he or she did not directly ask the person who accepted the money to vote for him. Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code defines vote buying as “any person who gives, offers or promises money or anything of value... to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for against any candidate.” Villar was also criticized when his daughter Camille distributed scholarship grants during a rock concert that Villar's Nacionalista Party (NP) held at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City Thursday. Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the act of giving away scholarship grants is also tantamount to vote
