Bets warned of charges over non-filing of poll expenses

OZAMIZ CITY -- An election official in Misamis Occidental warned candidates in the May polls to submit their statement of election expenditures and contributions or face appropriate charges if they fail.

Jose Itom of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office said at the close of deadline last June 9 that 25 candidates in the province were not able to file the required financial statement.

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Based on rules, candidates file their statement of expenditures before the Comelec office where they filed their certificates of candidacy.

While Itom stopped short of naming them, he, however, said these individuals ran for governor, vice governor, representatives, and members of the provincial legislative board.

Itom added that the candidates can still file the statement until June 24 after the Comelec extended the deadline for two more weeks.

Although its law department admitted difficulties in tracing the veracity of the candidates' assertions, still, Itom said the Comelec strictly enforced the rule on declaring their expenditures and contributions.

Poll watchdogs have long pointed to campaign finance as the least attended aspect of every electoral exercise in the country.