Pamatong, 91 others face perpetual disqualification

MANILA, Philippines - Perennial presidential aspirant Elly Pamatong may have filed his last certificate of candidacy (COC) in October as he is among 92 individuals facing perpetual disqualification for failing to file their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) in the 2007, 2010 and 2013 elections.

The latest list posted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on its website shows that Pamatong did not file his SOCEs in 2007 and 2013 when he filed a COC for governor of Pampanga and congressman of the first district of Davao City, respectively.

In the May 2016 elections, Pamatong wants to run for president, but he was declared a nuisance candidate by the Comelec after failing to prove that he could mount a nationwide campaign.

He appealed his disqualification before the Supreme Court last Tuesday.

Senatorial aspirant Greco Belgica also stands to be disqualified for not filing his SOCE when he ran for congressman of the sixth district of Manila in 2007 and for senator in 2013.

The Comelec’s list shows that Western Visayas has the highest number of SOCE violators with 22, followed by Northern Mindanao with 21 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 16.

Others are the Cordillera Administrative Region with 10; Calabarzon with four; Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley with three each; National Capital Region with two; and Mimaropa, Bicol region and Zamboanga Peninsula with one each.

Last October, the Comelec reported that 785 prospective candidates were found to have violated the SOCE requirement and were facing a lifetime ban in seeking elective posts.

Under the law, all losing and winning candidates must submit SOCEs containing the itemized lists of their campaign contributions and expenditures. Failing to do so twice could lead to a perpetual ban on running for election.