Philippine midterm elections: casino-linked cash seizure and poll-day disruptions raise alarms
Foreigners caught with billions in undeclared pesos, broken voting machines and scattered violence all cast a shadow over the vote
One of the most startling developments occurred late on Friday, when six Chinese nationals, three foreigners and two Filipinos were intercepted at Cebu International Airport while attempting to board a private jet to Manila. Authorities discovered 441.9 million pesos (US$7.6 million) in local currency, along with US$168,730 and HK$1,000 (US$128) in undeclared cash – raising suspicions of illicit election-related activity.
Brigadier General Jean Fajardo, spokeswoman for the Philippine National Police (PNP), said investigators were pursuing multiple leads, including the possibility that the money was intended to influence the polls.
“Is this money part of a plan to influence or at least interfere in our elections?” she said at a Sunday briefing. “Maybe these foreign nationals might be a conduit to be used to interfere or at least influence our elections.”
Police officials said the foreign nationals – including a Malaysian, an Indonesian and a Kazakh citizen – had declared only three of seven hard-shell suitcases during check-in. X-ray scans and inspection revealed the undeclared currency.