Among the presidential candidates, only Roxas – the Liberal Party standard bearer – failed to submit to the Commission on Elections the required Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE) even after the 5 p.m. deadline last Wednesday was extended to 6:30 p.m.
Documenting the flow of campaign funds under the 30-year-old Omnibus Election Code is a chore every candidate, especially one running for president, is supposed to know. There is no excuse for the top bet of a well-oiled machine not being able to file a SOCE on time.
Based on the number of registered voters, the Comelec has set the campaign-spending limit for the May 9 polls at P557,399,110 per candidate for president and for vice president.
Any candidate – winner or loser, local or national -- who fails to submit his SOCE faces possible fines. Committing the same violation again would mean disqualification from ever holding any elective or appointive public office.
Under Section 111 of Article XI of the election code (Batas Pambansa Bilang 881), even if a winner files his SOCE, he would still not be allowed to “enter upon the duties of his office” if his party fails to submit its separate SOCE.
Since the LP has failed to submit its SOCE, even the oath-taking of Vice President-elect Leni Robredo is now under question. Senators-elect of the LP (Franklin Drilon, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, Ralph Recto and Leila de Lima) are in the same situation.
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