MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) requested copies of the statements of contribution and expenditure (SOCEs) of several candidates of the 2022 national and local elections, including seven senatoriables.
According to Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia, the poll body is supportive of what the independent body asks from them, noting that the SOCEs are public documents.
“Ang ICI ay humingi ng mga kopya ng SOCEs para sa 2022 national and elections ng ilang mga kandidato, national at local at kaagad po natin itong pinadala sa Political Finance and Affairs Department [PFAD] to inform the office to immediately communicate and give these documents to ICI,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.
According to Garcia, the SOCEs were given to the ICI last week. The Inquirer has reached out to ICI Executive Director Bryan Hosaka to confirm the recipient of the SOCEs, but has yet to receive a response.
The Comelec earlier revealed that the following individuals were found to have accepted contributions from the 27 government contractors for their campaigns during the 2022 elections: six senatorial candidates, five party-list nominees, four congressional representative candidates, three gubernatorial candidates, two vice gubernatorial candidates, and one candidate running for Manila councilor.
The ICI is a body formed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to investigate the anomalies linked to government infrastructure projects. The independent body has made several referrals to the Ombudsman for cases of government officials and several personalities allegedly involved in corruption. (Dianne Sampang © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
