AFTER this year’s national and local elections, the Commission on Election (Comelec) 7 urged all those who ran for public office to submit their statement of contributions and expenditures (Soce).
Lawyer Jose Nick Mendros, Comelec 7 director, said the submission of the Soce is important because it will determine how much a candidate has spent for his campaign and if he is within the limit provided set by the law.
Submitting their Soce, Mendros said, will also promote transparency on the campaign finances of each candidate.
Section 14 of Republic Act (RA) 7166, or the Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms 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.”
“I would like to ask the candidates, both losers and winners, to file their Soce within the 30 days from the date of the election,” Mendros said.
All candidates will have until June 8 to submit their Soce, he said.
As a penalty, candidates who won but fail to submit their liquidation documents, cannot assume office until they submit their Soce, as stated under RA 7166.
An administrative fine ranging from P1,000 to P30,000, in the discretion of the Comelec, will also be imposed to those who fails to submit their Soce.
The fine should be paid within 30 days from receipt of notice of such failure, otherwise, a writ of execution will be issued by the Comelec against the properties of the offender.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak has started removing all his campaign posters posted in different areas in the city’s south district.
Mendros said the clearing of campaign materials should be voluntary and candidates should do it every after elections.
Tumulak’s 26 volunteers who posted the campaign materials were also the ones who removed the paraphernalia. As of yesterday, Tumulak’s group was able to clean up the areas in Barangays Bulacao, Pardo, Kinasang-an, Basak Pardo, Basak San Nicolas and Mambaling.
“This is the usual thing we do after election because we need to remove all those posters to clean up the city and I’m also calling my colleagues and other candidates to clean up because it will be unfair for our barangays if they will do the clearing,” he said.