Did Robin Padilla violate the COMELEC ‘no photo’ rule?

Robin Padilla may be in hot water for violating the Commission on Election’s (COMELEC) rule of no taking of photos while inside the polling precinct.

Like his nephew Daniel Padilla who got into trouble when ABS-CBN reporter Gretchen Fullido took a photo of the teen king holding his ballot and then posted it on social media, the elder Padilla might be held accountable for showing his ballot on his Instagram account.

At around 10 am on May 9, Padilla allegedly posted on his Instagram account @robinhoodpadilla a photo collage of his ballot. The photos showed that he voted for Rodrigo Duterte for president and for the Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party List.

Padilla deleted the photo quickly after he posted it. Some netizens, however, were able to take a screen grab of it.

In earlier interviews, COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez stated, “It’s legal to take photos of your blank ballot. But once it is already filled out, you cannot take a picture of it, as such action is tantamount to making a carbon copy of it, which is prohibited.” Taking photos or using any means to copy the contents of the ballot is an election offense under Resolution No, 9571.

While Daniel Padilla’s incident involved the media taking the photo, the elder Padilla’s case may be more serious as the voter himself violated the rule.