An opportunity for transparency

With the official count underway, candidates must now prepare their statements of campaign contributions and expenditures. The Commission on Elections reminded candidates over the weekend that they have until June 8 to file their SOCE. Winning candidates who fail to submit the requirements to the Comelec will be barred from taking their oath of office; losers will face fines.

For a long time, the SOCE has enjoyed as much credibility as the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth that public servants are required to file. Even winners in races for national office have failed to set the example, submitting lists of campaign donors and amounts of contributions that are so patently incomplete the SOCEs are laughable.

But after a chief justice was impeached and ousted for inaccuracies in his SALN, and after other officials were indicted for similar offenses, public officials now pay more attention to their declarations of their worth.

In the case of the SOCE, the Comelec must do its part by making an effort to verify at least some of the declarations. Republic Act 7166, which provides for synchronized national and local elections as well as electoral reforms, makes the submission of the SOCE a requirement before anyone can assume an elective post.

The secretary of the interior and local government reminded winning local executives that RA 7166 requires every candidate and treasurer of a political party to submit to the Comelec within 30 days after the elections “the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures.”

To encourage honest and accurate compliance with the requirement, the Comelec must exert effort to verify the SOCE. Digital technology has made the verification process easier. To avoid accusations of partisanship in the verification process, candidates for local and national posts can be picked at random by the Comelec from every political party and among the independents.

Campaign finance regulation is weak enough, with politicians resisting every effort to bring transparency into the system. The SOCE requirement provides the best opportunity for coaxing some transparency in campaign financing. The Comelec must show that it can be up to the task.