Battle over Soce. The third is the petition of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to reverse the Comelec resolution that, by a 4-3 vote, extended the deadline for filing the statement of contributions and expenses (Soce) of political parties and candidates from June 8 to June 30.
Under Republic Act No. 7166, a candidate who fails to file his or her Soce within the prescribed period, whether as a late filer or as a nonfiler, will be fined and/or barred from “enter[ing] upon the duties of his office until he has filed†the required Soce. In either or both instances, the additional penalty of “perpetual disqualification to hold public office†will be imposed on a repeat offender.
Political parties which failed to file their Soce within the prescribed period are also liable to pay a similar fine. Further, and here is the kicker, Sec. 14 of RA 7166 prescribes an additional penalty, worded as follows: “The same prohibition shall apply if the political party which nominated the winning candidate fails to file†the Soce “within the period prescribed by this Act.â€
Unquestionably, the Liberal Party filed its Soce only during the extension granted by the Comelec, not within the period prescribed by the Act. Ergo, the Marcos partisans claim, Robredo (and all other LP-affiliated senators, congressmen and other winners) should be disqualified perpetually, even though she timely filed her Soce as a candidate, and Bongbong should replace her pronto as vice president.
This claim is a major leap in law and logic, and deserves a column in the future. Meanwhile, readers may want to look at my piece titled “Soce extension abets impunity†(6/19/16).
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