All 34 candidates in the last May elections in Mandaue City were able to submit their SOCEs prior to the deadline on Wednesday, June 8.
Mayor Jonas Cortes got the highest campaign expenses among all political candidates in Mandaue City, said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Mandaue election officer lawyer Michael Angelo Sarno.
Sarno told SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, June 8, that Cortes had the highest spending with P692,093 as reflected in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
This was slightly higher than his previous SOCE in the 2019 mid-term election, wherein he declared P674,300.
His running mate, Vice Mayor Glenn Bercede, declared P107,066.
Meanwhile, their opponents, mayoralty candidate Nilo "Olin" Seno, declared P300,000, while vice-mayoralty candidate Elmer Cabahug had P80,594.
Sarno, however, could not reveal the total expenses of the independent vice-mayoralty candidate Gepind Requierme.
He said Requierme directly sent his SOCE to Comelec Manila through the web.
Independent councilor candidate Estrella Gesta had the lowest amount of SOCE with only P1,510 among the candidates.
Section 14 of Republic Act 7166 of the Philippine Law requires both winning and losing candidates to file their SOCEs.
Candidates who fail to submit their SOCEs will pay a fine of P1,000 to P30,000 for the first offense, P2,000 up to P60,000 for the second offense and or subsequent failure to file. They will also be banned from running for any government position.
Fines vary on the political position chosen by the candidates.
Also, winning candidates who failed to submit their SOCEs will be prohibited from holding office while their documents are still being processed. (TPT)