Batangas Governor Vilma Santos. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Batangas Governor Vilma Santos said Thursday that she filed her poll expenses before the Commission on Elections.
In a live television interview, Santos said her lawyer was taking care of the case.
“We did comply. If we have deficiencies and corrections, we need the letter from Comelec stating the corrections. If there are problems, we are willing to correct it,” said Santos after she and over 400 local officials who won in the elections in May were told to resign by the Comelec for failing to submit their Statement of Election Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) on June 6.
Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Thursday confirmed his wife’s claim.
“Governor Vi filed on June 6, earlier than the deadline, using the Comelec prescribed form. We followed all laws, rules and regulations,” Recto said in a statement.
“We have a certificate of compliance dated June 6 from Comelec Batangas that we complied,” he said.
Even the Comelec officer of Batangas, the senator said, was “shocked” and “surprised” by the Comelec’ order that the governor should vacate her post for failure to file the appropriate SOCE.
“We reviewed just now all the documents we filed and we do not see any mistakes,” Recto said.
“If there are any mistakes, the Comelec should have informed us so that we can rectify any error, if there’s any,” he added.
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