File expense reports or face ban, Comelec tells bets
THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) is reminding candidates in the May 9 polls, whether they won or lost, to file their statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) by June 8 or risk being permanently barred from running for public office.
The Comelec said it had no plans of extending the deadline.
“If you fail to file by that date, it’s considered not filed,” said Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, head of the Comelec’s campaign finance office.
Lim said that unlike in 2013 when the Comelec gave candidates more time to submit their SOCE, this year it would strictly implement Comelec Resolution No. 9991, the Omnibus Rules and Regulations Governing Campaign Finance and Disclosure.
“Our deadline is June 8 and it is nonextendible,” Lim said, adding that candidates who withdrew or did not spend anything were not exempted from the rules.
He said that winning candidates who failed to submit the required documents would not be allowed to assume the posts they had won.
Aside from being barred from public positions, candidates who fail to submit a SOCE will be slapped administrative fines of P10,000 to P30,000 for the first offense and P20,000 to P60,000 for the second offense, depending on the position involved.