Roxas camp defends delayed filing of SOCE: Late but accurate
Daang Matuwid spokesperson and Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez in an ambush interview at the Comelec office in Manila. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net
Never mind if the statement of contribution and expenses (SOCE) is not submitted on time, as long as the poll expenses are truthfully declared.
That was the position of defeated presidential candidate Mar Roxas, who is now under fire for failing to comply with the deadline the Commission on Elections (Comelec) set last June 8.
READ: Roxas finally files SOCE
After all, the intent of filing SOCE was to fully disclose a candidate’s campaign expenses, Roxas’ campaign spokesperson and Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez explained.
“From the start, his position was, it’s better for us to be a bit late but to submit a complete record of all our transactions. The spirit of filing SOCE is for full disclosure at full transparency,” Gutierrez told reporters on Wednesday.
“Ang gusto nating mangyari, kumpletong record ng transactions. Kung sinong susuri, makikita nila ‘yung buong record ng mga resibo, lahat ng expenses at donation para lahat malinaw. Walang tinatago and in full compliance, accountability ang spirit nu’ng batas sa SOCE,” he said.
(What we want to happen is submit a complete record of transactions. Whoever will inspect it will see the complete record of receipts, expenses and donations for clarity. Full disclosure and in full compliance and accountability are the spirit of the law on SOCE.)
READ: LP: ‘We did not flout the law’
But Gutierrez clarified that he did not mean that those who were able to meet the deadline gave questionable SOCEs.
Judy Araneta was top contributor
On Roxas’ behalf, Gutierrez filed the Liberal Party standard-bearer’s SOCE at the Comelec office in Manila.
Gutierrez brought with him a total of 50 boxes in a yellow truck containing documents and scanned receipts supporting Roxas’ SOCE.
In his expenditure report, it showed that Roxas was the second highest election spender among the presidential candidates, having spent P487,331,601.36 during the campaign period. Roxas also took P18,037,139.01 from his own pocket.
Roxas’ top contributor was his mother Judy Araneta-Roxas who shelled out P110 million for his son’s campaign.
Roxas received contributions worth P469,294,462.35 from campaign donors mostly from his wealthy relatives.
The bulk of his P487-million expenditures, or about 83 percent of the total amount, went to campaign ads. IDL
