THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will make public all election-related documents required from candidates, including the Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday that candidates’ documents will be posted on the poll body’s official website starting in August 2024.
During Friday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, Garcia said that the posting has already been approved by the Comelec en banc.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Aside from the SOCE, the election-related documents also include the certificate of candidacy (CoC) and the certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA).
Included in the SOCE are cash and in-kind contributions received by the candidate from a political party and other sources. It also includes expenditures paid out of personal funds, out-of-cash contributions, and incurred using in-kind contributions.
Republic Act (RA) 7166, or the Synchronized National and Local Elections and Electoral Reforms Act, mandates that no official will be allowed to assume their elected posts without filing their SOCE with the Comelec.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia answers questions from former senator Joey Lina, host of the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, on July 19, 2024. Garcia is accused of accepting bribes from Miru Systems Corp. a South Korean-based technology firm that won the bid to provide over 110,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) in the 2025 midterm polls. Both Garcia and Miru have denied the allegations. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia answers questions from former senator Joey Lina, host of the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, on July 19, 2024. Garcia is accused of accepting bribes from Miru Systems Corp. a South Korean-based technology firm that won the bid to provide over 110,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) in the 2025 midterm polls. Both Garcia and Miru have denied the allegations. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia answers questions from former senator Joey Lina, host of the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, on July 19, 2024. Garcia is accused of accepting bribes from Miru Systems Corp. a South Korean-based technology firm that won the bid to provide over 110,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) in the 2025 midterm polls. Both Garcia and Miru have denied the allegations. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia answers questions from former senator Joey Lina, host of the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, on July 19, 2024. Garcia is accused of accepting bribes from Miru Systems Corp. a South Korean-based technology firm that won the bid to provide over 110,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) in the 2025 midterm polls. Both Garcia and Miru have denied the allegations. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia answers questions from former senator Joey Lina, host of the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, on July 19, 2024. Garcia is accused of accepting bribes from Miru Systems Corp. a South Korean-based technology firm that won the bid to provide over 110,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) in the 2025 midterm polls. Both Garcia and Miru have denied the allegations. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Section 14 of RA 7166 states: “Every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall, within 30 days after the day of the election, file in duplicate with the offices of the Commission the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election. No person elected to any public office shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures required.”
The same law stipulates that “failure to file the statements or reports in connection with electoral contributions and expenditures as required herein shall constitute an administrative offense for which the offenders shall be liable to pay an administrative fine ranging from one thousand pesos (P1,000) to thirty thousand pesos (P30,000), at the discretion of the commission.”
The move to make public all election-related documents required will allow voters to closely scrutinize each candidate, Garcia said.
“Making public the SOCE of candidates will make it easier for anyone who wants to know who made the donation, where the donation came from,” he said.
Filing of the CoC for the 2025 midterm elections is scheduled from Oct. 1 to 8, 2024.
Garcia said that after October 8, the Comelec will no longer accept the filing of withdrawal from a candidate with substitution.
“They can withdraw, but there will be no substitution,” he said.
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