MANILA — Those who will run in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections must file their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday.
In a statement, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said all candidates in the May 14 polls, both winning and losing, are mandated to file their SOCEs not later than June 13.
“Win or lose, all candidates must file their SOCE,” he added.
The poll body official noted that filing the SOCE is imperative as it will be one of the earliest proofs that the candidates deserve the public trust given to them on election day.
“We have always said that the barangay is where the public directly experiences our government. Therefore, our frontline public officials must be sterling exemplars of upright, law-abiding citizens to the public whom they pledge to serve,” Jimenez added.
He warned that failure to do so could result in the perpetual disqualification of the BSKE candidate from holding public office.
Jimenez issued the reminder after the Comelec – Campaign Finance Office (CFO) published a list of 105 candidates who are permanently disqualified from running for public office.
“List of Candidates declared with finality by the Commission as perpetually disqualified to hold public office due to repeated failure to file their SOCE after elections,” the Comelec said in its website.
The list can be found at https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2018BSKE/CampaignFinance/ListOfCandidatesWhoArePepetuallyDisqualifiedToHoldPublicOffice.pdf.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, every candidate and treasurer of a political party shall submit full, true, and itemized SOCEs after an electoral exercise.
After the second failure of a candidate to file his/her SOCE, the offender shall be subject to perpetual disqualification from holding public office. (PNA)
