All participants in the May 9 elections, including candidates who had withdrawn their candidacies, are required to submit their Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCEs), Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia, in a radio interview, urged candidates to submit the SOCEs.
“Those who ran in the recently concluded elections, even those who had dropped their bids, should submit their SOCEs,” Garcia said, adding that with the filing of their SOCEs, the public and the Comelec “can track where they sourced their funds for the entire campaign period. Are there excess campaign funds? Where are the excess funds? At the same time, we will know if they paid the right amount of tax in their expenditures.”
Garcia cited Section 14 of Republic Act 7166, which said “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.”
The law also prohibits a candidate from assuming office until the SOCE is filed.
The Comelec earlier said it is set to proclaim the 12 winning senators and partial winning party-list groups on Tuesday or Wednesday. Garcia that if canvassing of the remaining certificates will be canvassed within the day, the poll regulator will then immediately prepare for the proclamation on the next day.
The Comelec reported that 149 out of 173 COCs have been canvassed as of Saturday. The poll regulator further said the 24 remaining COCs include 19 manual overseas COCs, one manual COC from the Vulnerable Sector Office, one manual COCs from 63 barangays, one electronic COC from Lanao del Sur, one electronic overseas COC from Hong Kong, and one electronic COC from Jordan.
Garcia however said not all COCs may arrive over the weekend, as Lanao del Sur has yet to hold a special election targeted on May 24, after failure of elections was declared in 14 barangays..