A total of 43 candidates in the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Pateros failed to submit the mandatory statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCE).
According to Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Pateros Election Officer Armando Mallorca, as the deadline for the submission lapsed on Nov. 29, 374 BSKE candidates out of 417 filed their SOCE, or nearly 90 percent were able to file the documents needed.
Comelec-Pateros Election Officer Armando Mallorca (right) gives a certificate of compliance to a candidate who submitted his SOCE (Photo from Mallorca's Facebook account)
This left 43 candidates, or 10.3 percent, not being able to meet the deadline.
All winning and losing candidates nationwide only had until Nov. 29 to file their SOCE with their respective Comelec office.
While the submission of SOCE is mandatory, no administrative fine or penalty will be imposed on any candidate for failure to file it.
According to the Comelec, the submission of SOCE covered all official candidates despite that: “They were not elected; their campaign was self-funded; they neither received contributions nor incur expenditures; they did not pursue or continue their campaign; or they withdrew their candidacy, unless they officially withdrawn the same before October 19, 2023.”
The deadline was non-extendible and any SOCE filed beyond the deadline was not accepted.
“No elected candidate shall assume office unless he or she complied with the submission of SOCE and within the period allowed by law,” according to the Comelec.