ILOILO City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has reiterated its reminder to all candidates in the recent May national and local elections: failure to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) today – June 11 deadline – comes with consequences.
Winners will be barred from assuming public office and may even be disqualified from running again. Losers face a similar disqualification penalty.
With only a fraction of candidates complying as of June 10, Comelec urges candidates to submit their SOCEs early today to avoid last-minute errors.
“We might not be able to check their entries for possible discrepancies. In such cases, the Comelec will not accept the submission. Based on experience, many tend to rush, but we can only accept submissions until 5 o’clock in the afternoon,” said Comelec City Election Assistant II Jonathan Sayno in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas Iloilo.
As of this writing, only five of the 29 city-level candidates and 11 from the provincial slate have filed, according to Comelec.
“Even if a candidate withdrew during the campaign period, they are still required to submit,” added Sayno.
Under Section 14 of election law Republic Act No. 7166, all candidates must submit their SOCE within 30 days after election day.
Sayno warned that failure to comply will lead to administrative fines on the first and second offenses, and on the third offense, Comelec will elevate the matter to the en banc, which could result in disqualification from running for or holding public office.
Comelec stressed that the SOCE requirement is not a formality but a legal obligation central to ensuring transparency and accountability in campaign finance./PN
