THE Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) does not have the authority to extend the deadline for the submission of the statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) of candidates and political parties who participate in national elections.
In a decision promulgated in October 2021 but only made public on June 5, the high court said that extending the deadline is equivalent to condoning the violations of the erring candidates and political parties.
The law mandates that candidates, whether winning or losing, and treasurers of political parties are required to submit their respective SOCEs “within 30 days after the day of the election” to determine their election-related expenses.
The court issued the decision as it invalidated Comelec Resolution No. 10147 which extended the deadline for the filing of SOCEs for the 2016 national elections.
The Court en banc said the poll body committed grave abuse of discretion when it extended the deadline and “exempted candidates and political parties from administrative liabilities in violation of the clear language of the law and legislative intent.”
“The arbitrary extension of the deadline for the submission of the SOCEs effectively condoned the erring candidates and political parties from the administrative liabilities even if the law does not provide any exempting circumstance. For these reasons, the Comelec Resolution No. 10147 is declared void for being repugnant to the law,” the en banc ruled.
The High Court also held that the Comelec’s act amounted to usurpation of legislative power.
“The Congress fixed the period to file SOCEs within 30 days after the day of the election. Hence, the Comelec cannot arbitrarily extend the deadline and substitute its own wisdom in defiance with the clear legislative intent,” it said.
The SC noted that the poll body also extended the SOCE deadline in the 2010 national and local elections and the 2013 mid-term polls, but it was only questioned after the 2016 elections when the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan represented by its then Secretary General Pantaleon Alvarez took the issue to the court.
But while it voided the Comelec resolution extending the deadline, the SC applied the doctrine of operative fact and held that the SOCEs for the May 9, 2016 national and local elections that were submitted on or before June 30, 2016 are deemed timely filed.
Elections chairman George Garcia said the poll body will strictly abide by the SC decision.
“No extensions from now on all our deadlines except in highly meritorious circumstances,” Garcia said. — With Raymond Africa
