Davao City Mayor and presidential aspirant
Rodrigo Duterte. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
DAVAO CITY—Supporters of presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are scratching their heads—the scratch card fundraising campaign was stopped even before it started.
Peter Laviña, spokesperson and head of media group of Duterte, said although the fundraising scheme does not fall under the forms prohibited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), “it would be impossible for us to use this due to the reportorial requirements where donor must each execute and sign a notarized report of contribution.”
“Campaign [manager] Jun Evasco ordered to stop it on the advise of our [legal team]. The cards are not prohibited but reportorial requirements by Comelec on contributions would make it hard for us. We need to adjust. We already notified the sponsoring private group as well as our [political organizers],”Laviña added.
The scratch cards project was conceptualized by members of the Duterte campaign group in Mindanao who were having mobilization fund problems. This came after the mayor ordered to decline accepting funds coming from questionable sources like illegal drugs, gambling and firms that have transactions with government.
The Duterte camp in Mindanao was planning to launch the scratch cards this week.
READ: Duterte campaign launches ‘scratch cards’ to raise funds
However, Laviña said a scratch card contributor, even if he gives only P25, would need to go to a lawyer to have his contribution notarized.
“This must be filed 30 days after the election either by the donor or the candidate or the political party. Also, our candidate must show in the Statement of Contributions and Expenses requirements like TIN of donor and official receipts,” Laviña added.
The scratch cards—available at P25, P50, P100, P500, P1,000, P5,000, P10,000, P25,00, P100,000 and P500,000—were to be sold to anyone who wants to donate to the campaign. These will be sold by the campaign coordinators themselves.
The buyer will have to scratch part of the card’s back portion to reveal the personal identification numbers and letters, which will be sent, along with his or her name and address, to a phone number for registration. The personal information provided by the buyer will be automatically loaded to a database managed by the Duterte camp.
Laviña said the Comelec rule was “obviously meant for a very few big donors and did not consider mass donations.”
“Truly unfortunate because traditional politicians freely receive illicit funds from druglords and are not under the radar of the Comelec,” he added. With a report from Nestor Corrales, INQUIRER.net/RAM
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