EDITORIAL – Tracking campaign donations

The Commission on Elections is reportedly planning to require candidates to issue a “written acceptance” of donated campaign materials such as multimedia advertising placements and streamers. Such donations are tax-exempt, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the written acceptance is not an official receipt. But if properly implemented, the measure may improve the Comelec’s monitoring of campaign finance.

Because there is material proof of the contribution, the commission has a good chance of keeping track of such donations. If the poll body can find a similar measure covering cash donations, it will be even better, even if much of the money will surely still move beyond the radar of the Comelec.

Campaign finance is one of the biggest sources of unexplained wealth in this country. The failure to regulate campaign financing has allowed candidates to abet money laundering and accept dirty money from jueteng lords, smugglers and drug traffickers. In certain cases, suspected money launderers and gambling barons themselves are the candidates – and some of them have won. Campaign finance is so poorly regulated that certain candidates in previous elections have been suspected of raising funds through serious crimes such as ransom kidnapping, armored van robberies and organized carjacking.

The failure to compel candidates to submit detailed and accurate reports on their campaign contributions and expenditures has also nurtured a system of post-election political payback. Winners reward campaign supporters with anomalous sweetheart deals and undeserved appointments to government positions even at the expense of efficient public service.

The Comelec’s plan to require a candidate’s written acceptance of donated campaign materials is a step in the right direction. But the poll body must ensure that the measure is implemented smoothly, without red tape that encourages people to ignore the rules. Beyond the visible contributions, the Comelec must persist in bringing transparency to campaign finance.