By Ferdinand Patinio/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday reminded all candidates in the just-concluded mid-term polls to use the prescribed forms in filing their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs).
“An incomplete report is a report that does not contain all the required information, or does not conform to the prescribed form. A copy of prescribed SOCE forms may be downloaded from https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=CampaignFinance/CampaignFinanceForms,” the poll body said in a statement.
Under Republic Act 7166, all persons who filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) and all electoral parties shall file a true and correct SOCE within 30 days from Election Day.
For this election year, the original deadline for the filing of SOCEs is on June 12 but since it falls on a holiday, the Comelec has extended the deadline to June 13.
The filing of SOCE is required even for candidates who (1) were not elected; (2) are self-funded; (3) did not incur any expenses; (4) did not pursue or continue the campaign; and (4) withdrew their candidacies unless the withdrawal was done prior to the start of the campaign period.
The poll body warned that failure to submit SOCE may result in the imposition of administrative sanctions against candidates and electoral parties. It added that incomplete statements and reports shall be imposed an administrative penalty.
Winning candidates may file their SOCE within six months from the date of proclamation. Prior to the submission of the document, they are prohibited from assuming office as provided for in RA 7166.
The late filing of SOCE may still be subject to administrative penalties ranging from PHP6,000 up to PHP10,000 depending on the positions.
Three hard copies and one electronic copy, in Microsoft Excel and in PDF format, of the SOCE shall be filed in person before the Comelec Campaign Finance Office in Intramuros, Manila.
The SOCE contains all the finances and expenditures spent by a candidate in the recently-concluded May 13 polls.
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