Comelec en banc votes to accept LP’s late SOCE

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has voted to accept the campaign expenditure report of the Liberal Party (LP) which was filed almost a week after the deadline had lapsed.

In a 4-3 vote, the Comelec en banc did not follow the recommendation of the poll body’s campaign finance office to reject the call of the erstwhile ruling party to extend the filing of the statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE).

The full commission also extended the filing of the SOCE until June 30 from its previous June 8 deadline.

The extension will benefit LP standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, 15 senatorial candidates who included front-runner Senator Franklin Drilon, 40 governors and 115 members of the House of Representatives.

The commissioners who voted in favor for the extension of SOCE filing were Rowena Guanzon, Albert Lim, Al Parreño, and Sheriff Abas.

READ: Rival poll lawyers agree: Comelec should accept LP’s late SOCE

Those who voted against were Comelec chair J. Andres Bautista, Luie Guia, and commissioner-in-charge for the poll body’s campaign finance office Christian Robert Lim.

In a memorandum issued on Wednesday, Lim recommended that the commission reject LP’s request to extend the filing of SOCE.

READ: Comelec exec says no to Mar, LP’s plea to extend filing of SOCE

Lim said that the provision is clear in Republic Act 7166 that the SOCE should be filed within 30 days after the elections.

He also said that in the Omnibus Rules on Campaign Finance, the June 8 deadline was  “final and non-extendible.”

LP filed its SOCE on June 14, six days after the deadline. AJH/rga