Comelec clears Capitol payments from election ban

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has cleared the provincial government of Negros Occidental to pay its legal obligations to its contractors and suppliers from the election ban, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said Thursday, September 21.

Diaz said he wrote provincial Comelec supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria after the Provincial Treasurer's Office was concerned that it may not be able to pay the suppliers and contractors who already completed their contracts because of the election ban.

In his reply to Diaz, Ananoria cited Comelec Resolution 10944, stating that payments can be made "if the projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) sought to be implemented during the prohibited period from October 20 to 29 were established before that period and duly reported to the Commission on Audit."

"In no instance shall the implementation of PPAs be used as an opportunity by any candidate, his or her spouse, or family member within the second civil degree of affinity or consanguinity to further their candidacy through their personal appearance in such events, the posting, exhibition, or distribution of any form of election propaganda, or any material containing their names, logos, initials, mottos, slogans, images, and other forms of representation attributable to them," he said.

Support for or endorsement of candidates shall not be made as a condition for the entitlement of the benefits from the PPAs, Ananoria said.

Candidates, their spouses, and members of their family within the second civil degree of affinity or consanguinity are strictly prohibited from participating, directly or indirectly, in the distribution of cash, goods, or merchandise for scholarships, assistance for burial, healthcare, calamity and other similar programs, he added.*