Baguio: The Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Baguio announced that 47 out of 54 political candidates who entered the race for the May 12 national and local elections successfully filed their Statement of Contribution and Expenditure (SOCE) by the June 11 deadline.
According to Philippines News Agency, Lawyer John Paul Martin stated in a recent media interview that the local Comelec office accepted the SOCE submissions from six of the seven congressional candidates, three of the six mayoral candidates, both vice mayoral candidates, and 36 of the 39 councilor candidates. Those who did not submit valid SOCEs must now file them with the central office and pay an administrative fine. Martin emphasized that this requirement applies to all candidates, irrespective of their success in the elections.
The commission had set a deadline of 5 p.m. on June 11 for the SOCE submissions. Martin highlighted the severe penalty for non-compliance, noting that candidates who fail to submit their SOCE for the second time face disqualification and a lifetime ban from running for any public office. He recalled past instances where candidates were disqualified for failing to meet this requirement.
Martin also mentioned specific cases of non-compliance, such as a candidate who submitted their SOCE at 5:20 p.m., missing the deadline, and another who submitted a handwritten and un-notarized SOCE. He explained that first-time offenders are issued a reminder by the Political Finance Affairs Department (PFAD) of the Comelec Central office, but repeated non-compliance results in perpetual disqualification from holding any elective office.
