CANDIDATES who fail to declare “donated” campaign materials in their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) will still face sanctions.
The Commission on Election (Comelec) made the clarification in a anticipation of the perennial ruse of some candidates to feign ownership of illegal campaign materials like posters and streamers to avoid accountability.
Citing the provision of Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Election Act, Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia stressed even so-called “donated” will still be counted against the candidates who are featured in the materials.
“Even ‘donated’ ads need to be accepted by the candidates promoted before the same can be displayed, printed, published, or broadcasted,” Guia said in his official Facebook account.
He explained the measure aims to “level the play field” during the elections so candidates cannot abuse “donated ads” as a means to promote themselves without these being included in their SOCEs, therefore allowing them to avoid breaching the cap on poll spending.
He said the exclusion of donated ads from the SOCE of a candidate is considered as an election offense.
An election offense is punishable by imprisonment, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, and a ban on the exercise of the right to vote.
Guia issued the timely reminder following the start of the campaign period for national candidates last Tuesday.
Based on its initial monitoring last week, Comelec documented multiple illegal campaign materials of some candidates posted in Metro Manila alone.
The poll body said concerned candidates will be given a period to remove the said materials before it considers imposing sanctions on them.