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Comelec
to become more strict on campaign spending
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from
NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.28 |
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In an interview, Comelec chairman Sixto
Brillantes, Jr. said the commission will strictly monitor campaign
contributions and expenses of candidates in the May 2013 polls. He
also said that the Comelec might tap the help of election watchdogs
to help monitor the campaign expenses and verify documents that will
be submitted by the winning and losing candidates after the election
pertaining to their actual expenses.
Under election rules, all candidates are required to file their
statement of contributions and expenses (SOCE) 30 days after the
polls. Failure to do so will prevent a winning candidate from taking
office and make him or her liable for administrative charges and
fines of up to Php 30,000. Senatorial, congressional and other local
candidates registered under a political party are authorized to
spend only Php 3 for every voter, while independent candidates
without any support from any political party are only authorized to
spend Php 5 for every registered voter. Political parties and
party-list groups may spend only Php 5 for every voter in their
constituency.
Over the decades, the Comelec has been limited to just receiving
reports from candidates with regard campaign contributions and
expenses, and reviewed by the Comelec's Law Department that is
severely understaffed to undertake the process in a timely manner.
In a forum last week organized by the Ateneo School of Government,
Comelec commissioner Christian Robert Lim said that under-reporting
of campaign expenses is prevalent among candidates and easily got
past the Comelec. For the 2010 elections for example, the Bureau of
Internal Revenue collected only PhP 200 million from tax on campaign
contributions. Going by this figure, it means that all candidates in
the 2010 national elections only got Php 2 Billion in total campaign
contributions, a figure that is hard to believe.
In July this year, the Comelec created a Campaign Finance Unit,
headed by Commissioner Lim, that will go beyond receiving and
keeping reports filed by candidates, political parties, contributors
and election contractors and advertising contracts of media
entities. The unit is also supposed to audit and publish these
reports and monitor fund raising and spending activities. The
Comelec has deputized 14 government agencies to assist the Campaign
Finance Unit to carry out its tasks. However, Commissioner Lim
considers the Campaign Finance Unit a start-up, saying that new and
existing civil society initiatives are needed to put campaign
finance reform in place.
In the same forum, participants identified other problems tied to
election spending and fund raising besides overspending and
under-reporting; Premature campaigning; Dynastic and patronage
politics; Vote buying and selling; Anonymous contributors; No limit
on campaign contributions; Unrealistic spending limits; No limits on
spending for counsel and printing sample ballots; Lack of
regulations on online campaigning; Increased State spending as
elections near, especially on public works; Failure to file
statements of campaign expenditures; Need for disclosure of campaign
expenses; No post-audit of declarations; Need to include violations
of the Election Code in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, similar to
graft and corruption; Quid pro quo resulting from campaign
contributions, in the form of policy favorable to donors; Failure to
prosecute violators; Weak political party system; Personality-based
politics.
(Sources: Vera Files; Manila Standard Today; forum notes)
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