MANILA, Philippines — Six days after the deadline lapsed the Liberal Party has submitted today its Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) related to the 2016 elections.
LP’s report states that the party received more than 241 million pesos in contributions from party members and outside sources.
The same amount was also spent during the campaign period.
But the SOCE of LP’s presidential candidate Mar Roxas was not among the submitted documents.
Also the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has not yet decided if they will accept the SOCE of the Liberal Party.
In its en banc session today, the commission still has not yet been able to resolve LP’s request for a 14-day extension to file their contributions and expenditures report.
The poll body explained that they still await the recommendation from the Campaign Finance Office before deciding on the request.
Commissioner Christian Robert Lim who heads the CFO is still on leave.
COMELEC chairman Andres Bautista said, they are still waiting for the CFO recommendation.
“I cannot give you an opinion now because that is a pending matter at the en banc. We have to wait for commissioner Lim,” COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said.
However, COMELEC Resolution No. 9991 points out that the June 8 deadline for the candidates and parties to file their SOCE is non-extendable and late submissions will not be accepted.
“The issue here is there is a deadline. Deadline is imposed by law and it was carried over in our resolution. The impact it causes was not our own making but of Congress who crafted the law,” said Commissioner Luie Tito Guia.
Also Section 14 of the Republic Act 7166 states that if a political party fails to submit its SOCE at the given period of submission, its candidates who won in the elections cannot assume duties.
(VICTOR COSARE/UNTV NEWS)
The post Liberal Party submits SOCE 6 days after deadline lapses appeared first on UNTV News.