Chiz, others fail to beat deadline on poll expense reports

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero and three other senatorial candidates face administrative fines for failing to file their statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) before the Thursday night deadline of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Records at the Comelec’s Law Department showed that Escudero submitted his SOCE at 9:30 a.m. yesterday.  

As of press time, Risa Hontiveros of Team PNoy and Rizalito David and Marwil Llasos of Ang Kapatiran Party had not yet filed their SOCEs.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said late filers face administrative fines ranging from P1,000 to P30,000, “depending on the discretion of the en banc.” “We could not leave the office, anyway, because of the rains... We still accepted until 10 p.m.,” he said. “But those who are not yet filing are definitely late so I think there will be administrative fine for them.”

The deadline was originally set for 5 p.m. of June 13, but the Comelec had extended it to 10 p.m. due to bad weather.

Initial records at the Comelec showed Senator-elect JV Ejercito was a non-filer. However, it turned out that his SOCE was sent through registered mail last June 13.  

Ejercito’s staff went to the Comelec late yesterday afternoon to file the receipt. Brillantes said they have not received the documents. However, the date of the receipt would be considered as the date of Ejercito’s filing his SOCE.

Brillantes said winners in the election would not be able to assume office without filing the documents.

“The law provides that they file it yesterday so they take the responsibility if they will not file,” he said. 

Republic Act 7166 mandates every candidate and treasurer of political parties to file the SOCE within 30 days after the day of election.

Brillantes said candidates must be truthful in their declaration or they will face charges of perjury.  

Late-filers have until June 30 to file their SOCE, he added. 

Otherwise, the Comelec would be filing charges of election offense against them, Brillantes said.

Overspending is also considered an election offense punishable with up to six years imprisonment, suppression of the rights of suffrage and disqualification from holding public office.

Brillantes said candidates must follow the format that the Comelec had set for their SOCE forms.

“We are more concerned about the filing at the moment,” he said. “We still have to check whether they filed on the proper form or whether it was properly signed, duly authorized (by the candidates). If it was not signed by the candidates, that is considered not filing.” 

Escudero and Senator-elect Juan Edgardo Angara declared Friday that they had spent about P100 million each to win the election.

Judee Aguilar, a member of Escudero’s staff, said the senator’s expenditures had reached P100,723.309.10, while the total contributions was recorded at P101,470,000.

Angara said he was able to submit his statement on election contribution and expenditures within the three-hour extended deadline.  

“I was able to file expenses at the Comelec last night, was able to beat the three-hour extension given by Comelec chairman Brillantes,” he said.

Floods and heavy traffic in parts of Metro Manila prevented some of the candidates’ staff from bringing the reports during officer hours to the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila last Thursday.

Angara said his team’s total expenses reached over P120 million. He had received around P113 million in campaign contributions, he added.

The average monthly salary of senators is pegged at P35,000.  

However, latest Commission on Audit (COA) reports showed that a senator spends between P20 million to P30 million annually, including personnel services, capital outlay, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), among others.

The amount does not include emoluments of chairmanships and memberships of the 37 regular committees and 39 oversight committees. 

Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile was the biggest spender among the senatorial candidates in the last election, according to the Comelec.

Based on 15 SOCEs that the Comelec had released, Enrile spent P150 million during the election, which all came from contributions.

On the SOCE that he filed with the Comelec, Enrile declared that he spent a total of P150,401,072.09.

The document showed that Enrile received a total of P150,797,910.18 in contributions “from other persons.”

It appeared that he did not spend a single centavo from his personal funds.

Senator-elect Cynthia Villar  was the second biggest spender at P133,979.127.25.

Villar reported that she sourced P131,656,672.84 from her personal funds while the rest came from contributions.

Following Villar among the big spenders was Alan Peter Cayetano, who spent P131,044,782.33 on contributions of P130,425,463.81. He spent P619,318.52 from his personal funds. – With Zinnia dela Peña, Christina Mendez