A POPULAR bookstore chain has removed its money envelopes from its “election essentials” package after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it violates certain election rules.
Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia sent a letter to the bookstore on March 17, urging for “corrective action” regarding its in-store signs for “Election Materials Essentials.”
The store, based in Metro Manila, displayed a money envelope alongside pens, glue, scissors, and stamp pads. In a letter dated March 19, the store president clarified that the setup was not intentional.
“While we understand and appreciate your point that small money/coin envelopes might be used in illegal activities such as vote buying during the election season, we assure your good office that there was no malice nor any ill-intention on our part to attribute the marketing and use of the said envelopes to vote buying,” the bookstore’s president said.