File SOCE on time, 2019 election bets told

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections on Tuesday reminded all the candidates of the 2019 local and national elections to file their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures on time.

“Pursuant to Republic Act No. 7166 all persons who filed a certificate of candidacy and all electoral parties shall file a true and correct SOCE within 30 days from Election Day,” Comelec said.

The deadline for the SOCE filing was initially set at June 12, however, the poll body extended the deadline to June 13 since the June 12 deadline falls on Philippine Independence Day, which is a holiday.

Candidates and electoral parties may file their SOCE on or before June 13.

Winning candidates are also required to file their SOCE within six months from the date of proclamation. The proclamation was held last May 22.

They will be prohibited from assuming office prior to the submission of SOCE as provided for in Republic Act 7166 or Synchronized Elections Law.

Candidates are required to submit three hard copies and one electronic copy of the SOCE in Excel and PDF format.

SOCE shall be personally filed before the Comelec Campaign Finance Office in Intramuros, Manila.

Comelec reminded that late filing of SOCE may still be subject to administrative penalty.

The poll body said filing of SOCE is required even for candidates who were not elected, are self-funded, did not incur any expenses, did not pursue or continue the campaign, and withdrew their candidacies unless the withdrawal was done prior to the start of the campaign period.

It added that “failure to submit SOCE may result to the imposition of administrative sanctions against candidates and electoral parties.”

Likewise, candidates who submitted incomplete statements and reports will face administrative sanctions.

Under the Comelec Resolution No. 10505, “an incomplete report is a report that does not contain all the required information, or does not conform to the prescribed form.”

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez earlier said online campaign expenditures are also included in the SOCE. — Rosette Adel