Brillantes: After extending SOCE filing, who will believe in Comelec's next deadline?
Following the Commission on Elections' decision to extend the deadline for the filing of Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE), it's possible that in the next polls, the Comelec will no longer be taken seriously if it imposes another deadline, its former chief said.
“Now, who is going to believe in the deadline that the Comelec will set in the next elections? Nobody. They will just think that they can just ask for an extension,” the Philippine News Agency on Sunday quoted former Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes as saying.
The PNA said that according to Brillantes, in the next elections, those who would request for an extension would cite the case of the Liberal Party in the recent polls.
“They will simply use the reasoning that the Comelec granted the request of the LP in 2016. Why not us?” the PNA quoted the former Comelec chief as saying.
On Thursday, June 16, the Comelec en banc voted 4-3, moving to June 30 the June 8 deadline for SOCE filing. This, after the LP and the camp of defeated vice presidential candidate Manuel "Mar" Roxas II asked for another 14 days to complete the filing of the documents.
Commissioners Arthur Lim, Al Parreño, Sheriff Abas, and Rowena Guanzon voted for the granting of extension, while Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista and Commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Luie Guia voted to deny the request.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that it was not the first time that the poll body had extended the deadline for SOCE filing. He said Comelec, under the watch of Brillantes, did the same thing in the 2013 polls.
Section 14 of Republic Act 7166 states that all candidates and political parties must file their respective SOCE 30 days after the polls.
But the PNA quoted the former Comelec chief as saying that in 2013 extension, late filers were penalized.
“In their decision now, they did not impose any penalties to late filers. It’s like they are forgiving the late filers altogether,” Brillantes said. —