5 winning senators file SOCEs

Five of the 12 winning senators in the May 13, 2019 midterm polls have so far submitted their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures to the Commission on Elections (SOCEs) as of Thursday.

They are Nancy Binay, Cynthia Villar, Pia Cayetano, Bong Go and Grace Poe.

Based on the list provided by the Comelec Campaign Finance Office, both Binay and Villar filed their SOCEs on June 11 while Cayetano filed hers the next day. Go and Poe on the other hand, filed their SOCEs on June 13.

To note, there were 62 senatorial candidates in the recent midterm polls.

Other known senatorial candidates who already filed their SOCEs as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday are Manuel Roxas, Romulo Macalintal, Doc Willy Ong, Jose Manuel Diokno, Florin Hilbay, Gary Alejano, Zajid Mangudadatu, and Rodrigo Manicad.

For partylist groups, 56 already filed their SOCEs out of the 134 who ran. Among those that have complied are top notcher ACT-CIS, Senior Citizens, Magdalo, ACT Teachers, Ang Probinsyano, 1PACMAN, PBA, LPGMA, SBP, TUCP, Bayan Muna, and Gabriela.

As for political parties, seven have already submitted their SOCEs namely: PDP-Laban, Lakas-CMD, Nacionalista Party, and Liberal Party.

In an interview, Atty. Efraim Bag-Id, Acting Campaign Finance Director of Comelec explained the importance of the SOCE submission particularly for winning candidates.

“In our Comelec Resolution, elected candidates who failed to submit SOCE after the deadline have six months from the date of proclamation to submit their SOCE,” he said.

“In the meantime, pending their submission of SOCE before the CFO they cannot assume the elective office which they were elected,” Bag-id added.

Under the law, all candidates and electoral parties, both winning and losing, are required to submit SOCE within 30 days after the elections which is June 13.

The Comelec said SOCE filed beyond the deadline shall not be accepted except for those who won the elections.

Provided however, the winning candidate shall submit SOCE within six months from the date of proclamation without prejudice to payment to administrative penalty for late filing.

Failure to file SOCE, the Comelec said may result to imposition of administrative sanctions against candidates and electoral parties.