‘Balimbing’ businessmen

Our spies within the business community tell us that the Liberal Party’s difficulty in filing its statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) is because businessmen who contributed to the campaign kitty of the national candidates and the Liberal Party (LP) are shying away from confirming their contributions. We’re told that those who had originally promised to sign the forms that would attest to their contribution had backed out because they do not want the administration of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to put them in their “S” list.

In fact, several of the businessmen who placed bets on the LP horse are all trooping to Davao City to pledge their support to the incoming president — in yet another demonstration of the typical Filipino style of “balimbing” or turncoatism that usually happens when a shift in political power happens.

Our friend inside the LP told us that aside from the non-confirmation from businessmen, the LP’s problem to comply with the SOCE on time is aggravated by the inability of certain LP people to produce supporting documentations to explain the expenses and the source of donations. The issue over the SOCE and the LP’s request for an extension has precipitated the decision of Comelec commissioner Robert Christian Lim to resign as head of the poll body’s campaign finance office because the extension accorded to the LP is not only “unfair to other candidates and parties who complied with the prescribed (filing) period,” but also because it would be a “reversal of the Commissions own resolution on the matter,” Lim said.

In October last year, the Comelec issued Resolution No. 9991 which repealed previous Comelec Resolutions No. 9849 and No. 9873, Minute Resolutions 13-0775 and 13-0823 that previously allowed the late submission of the SOCE. Resolution No. 9991 was issued precisely to prevent a repeat of the late filings that happened in the 2010 and 2013 elections, clearly stating that “The June 8 deadline (of SOCE filing) shall be final and non-extendible. Submission beyond the period shall not be accepted.”

In fact, just a few days before the June 8 deadline, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez categorically stated that the deadline is a non-extendible period. Under Republic Act 7166, no person elected to any public office shall be able to occupy his position unless he has filed his SOCE to show the itemized contributions and expenses of a candidate relative to the elections. That means all LP winners — from the vice president down to senators and congressmen — cannot be sworn in if the law and Resolution 9991 were to be followed.

Many laud the firm resolution of commissioner Lim to insist on adhering with the provisions of Resolution 9991, that said any submission beyond the June 8 deadline shall not be accepted. By refusing to follow the law that they have set themselves, the Comelec’s — or at least the commissioners who voted for the extension — credibility and integrity has been thoroughly undermined. This latest development certainly does nothing to assuage the suspicion among many voters that Comelec is deliberately turning a blind eye to the cheating allegations that happened in the recent elections.

For some reason, only the LP failed to comply with the SOCE filing according to the deadline, and one would have thought that such a well-oiled political organization like the Liberal Party would be the first to submit their SOCE —strengthening suspicions that billions of public funds were used to finance the campaign of LP bets. The only acceptable reason for the LP’s inability to submit on time would be if a fire razed their headquarters or if the campaign treasurer who is supposed to prepare the filings, suddenly died, sources said.

Many are certainly disturbed by the waffling the Comelec displayed when it extended the deadline – a decision that definitely favored the Liberal Party that is now on the brink of losing its grip on power now that President Aquino’s term is about to end, with senators and congressmen also having aligned themselves with the PDP-Laban and vowing to cooperate with incoming Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and presumptive Senate President Koko Pimentel.

Just recently, an LP stalwart bragged to us at a function that they are confident of getting back into power “sooner than later.” Days after it became clear that Mayor Duterte would be the runaway winner, Spy Bits received chatter that moves have been planned to “weaken the position” of the president-elect with Leni Robredo to act as the “battering ram.”

This is probably the reason why the mayor has been rather cool to the overtures of the Robredo camp to give her a Cabinet position, with Duterte saying “no” and pointing out that the VP-elect should understand that she is from “the opposite side.” Diehard supporters of the Davao mayor had also expressed opposition, saying that giving Leni a Cabinet portfolio would make her part and parcel of the Duterte administration.

Duterte “loyalists” also say they could not forget how the “Ro-Ro” tandem characterized the recent elections as a fight between good and evil — with the Roxas-Robredo ticket presumably the “good,” while the rest, including the Duterte-Cayetano team, had been cast in the “evil” mold.

Being a seasoned politician, the president-elect very well knows his ardent “critics” are closely watching and waiting to have him deposed, perhaps remembering the time of Erap Estrada as president with Gloria Arroyo as vice president, observers noted, adding that appointing Robredo to any Cabinet position — especially something as critical as the DSWD or the National Anti-Poverty Commission — is tantamount to giving her “a foot in the (Palace) door.”  +++

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