ONLY 11 out of the 12 senatorial candidates proclaimed as winners in the May 12 midterm polls have filed their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
As of 6 p.m. yesterday, which is the last day of the filing period for SOCEs, the Comelec – Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) reported that Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has yet to file his contribution and expenditure statement.
Those who have filed their SOCEs are Christopher “Bong” Go, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino, Er-win Tulfo, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Rodante Marcoleta, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Camille Villar, Lito Lapid, and Imee Marcos.
Comelec records show that as of 4:30 p.m. of Wednesday, only 43 out of the 64 senatorial can-didates have filed their SOCEs; 95 out of 154 party-list groups; and 18 out of 28 political parties.
As of 5 p.m. of Tuesday, 126 out of the 1,657 congressional candidates who ran nationwide have filed their SOCEs.
On the other hand, at the provincial level, 47 out of 230 governors, 41 out of 196 vice governors, and 325 out of 610 provincial board members that have filed their SOCEs.
At the city/municipal level, SOCEs have been filed by 939 out of 3,748 mayors; 909 out of 3,472 vice mayors; and 7,285 out of 31,302 councilors.
Under the law, all SOCEs must be filed within 30 days from the date of elections, or until June 11, 2025.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said candidates, political parties, and party-list groups which failed to file their SOCEs for the first time will be slapped with administrative fines.
Those who fail to file their SOCEs for the second shall be made to pay an administrative fine and shall be subject to perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
“They can no longer serve in government, regardless if it’s for an appointive or elective posi-tion,” Garcia said.
The Comelec said elected officials who failed to file their SOCEs cannot assume their won posts.
“No elected candidate shall assume office unless the submission of SOCE is complied within the period allowed by law,” it said.
Garcia said a list of those who filed their SOCEs will be posted in the Comelec website within the month.
“We will still need an approval from the Department of Information and Communications Tech-nology (DICT) after conducting a vulnerability assessment,” he said.
Garcia urged the public to look into the SOCEs of the candidates, political parties, and party-list groups once these are posted online, adding that “if they think there are errors or items that are lacking, they can let us know so that we can immediately conduct an assessment and investiga-tion.”
