AVAO CITY (MindaNews/June 15) – Mayor-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte is among 18 candidates in the May 12 elections who have yet to file their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) here on June 11, only 79 of 97 candidates had filed their SOCE as of 5 p.m. that day, the deadline for filing, so 18 had not filed theirs. The Comelec gave reporters the total number of those who filed at 79, gave a breakdown of how many candidates per position had submitted their SOCE, but did not release their names.
City Election Officer Shajani Ebrahim, who chaired the City Board of Canvassers, declined to release the names on June 11 when Mindanews and other reporters went to the Comelec “para dili sila maano nga ah kini, wala siya nag file” (so that they will not be taunted that they have not filed). Let us protect pud (also) the candidates.”
“Basta hindi namin sila pwede idisclose, sa ngayon” (We cannot disclose them, for now), she said.
Aside from his children, grandsons Omar and Rodrigo II, both children of Rep. Paolo, are joining politics as well. Omar is running as second district representative while Rigo, as councilor for the city’s first district. MindaNews photo by IAN CARL ESPINOSA
Two days later, on June 13, MindaNews and other reporters followed up at the Comelec for the list of those who filed their SOCE but Comelec personnel still declined to release the names.
But the Comelec released a partial list of 37 names of those who filed their SOCE, to the government-owned People’s Television-Davao (PTV-Davao) which also posted a list and aired a news item about it on Friday afternoon, June 13. MindaNews got a copy of the list of 37 candidates and one political party – Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL), through the spokesperson of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-Davao, Aileen Lizada, who got the list from Comelec chair George Garcia.
The Comelec list shows only two out of five candidates for mayor have filed their SOCE: Rodolfo Atenen Cubos (Ind) and Karlo Alexei Bendigo Nograles (Ind). Three others have not filed: Jonathan Julaine, Joselito Tan and Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod’s standard bearer, now mayor-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
2 out of 5 candidates for mayor
Duterte, long-time mayor of Davao City who served as President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, is presently detained at The Hague, the Netherlands where he is facing charges of alleged crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC). He won an 8th term as Davao City mayor with 662,630 votes against 80,852 votes for Nograles, former Civil Service Commission chair.
The four other Duterte candidates – Duterte’s sons Sebastian for Vice Mayor and Paolo for a third term as first district Representative, and grandsons Omar for 2nd district Representative and Rodrigo II as 1stdistrict councilor – have filed their SOCE.
Under Section 14 of Republic Act No. 7166 (An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections), every candidate and treasurer of a political party must file a SOCE within 30 days after the election.
Although a candidate can execute a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) to authorize someone to submit his SOCE and supporting documents to the Comelec, he or she cannot designate a representative to sign the SOCE on his/her behalf.
The Comelec’s SPA form states that the attorney-in-fact shall be authorized to sign and receive any document or in relation to the (filing of the SOCE), but “this instrument does not constitute a grant of authority to the attorney-in-fact to sign on my behalf the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) which cannot be delegated to anyone.”
The SPA must be signed by the candidate and notarized.
According to Section 14 of RA 7166, “No person elected to any public office shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required.”
Comelec Resolution No. 9991 reiterates that non-filing of SOCE results in not being allowed to take office unless rectified within the allowable period for first-time offenders. Habitual non-filers may face permanent disqualification.
In absentia
Mayor-elect Duterte was proclaimed in absentia by the Comelec on May 13, a day after the election. He has not filed his SOCE and has yet to take his oath.
Local Governments Secretary Jonvic Remulla on May 27 noted that should Duterte take his oath of office, “his continued detention would render him both physically and legally incapable of performing the functions of a local chief executive.” The Vice Mayor, he said, will automatically assume the duties of Mayor, while the highest-ranking member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod will serve as Acting Vice Mayor, pursuant to Section 46 of the Local Government Code
Accoring to a June 3 advisory from the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) undersecretary for external, legal, and legislative affairs and lawyer Romeo Benitez, Section 11 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 provides that the office of any elected official who fails to take his oath within six months from his proclamation “will be considered vacant, unless the official is able to show that the cause of his failure is beyond his control.”
The DILG said that the vice mayor-elect will permanently assume the mayoralty, in accordance with Section 44 of the Local Government Unit (LGU) Code of 1991.
37 names
The partial list of names of those who submitted their SOCE, according to the partial listing released by the Comelec include under political party, the HTL. Of 37, the two are candidates for mayor – Cubos and Nograles – while the 35 others are:
Vice Mayor (all): Bernard Al-Ag (Ind), Richard Alcebar (Ind), Vice Mayor-Elect Sebastian Duterte (HTL), and Rhodora Barcena
District 1 representative (all): Rep-Elect Paolo Zimmerman Duterte, Janeth Jabines, Rex Labi Maria Victoria Maglana, and Margarita Ignacia Nograles.
District 2 representatives (all): Augusto Javier Garcia Campos III (Partido Federal ng Pilipinas), Rep-Elect Omar Vincent Duterte (HTL) and Melogen Montesclaros (Ind).
District 3 representatives (2 of 3; Wilberto Echavez Al-ag and Rep-Elect Isidro Tom Ungab.
District 3 councilors: 21 out of 27: Bai Hundra Cassandra Advincula, Ritchelle Joy Al-ag, Jose Marie Bernardo Baluran, Ramon Bargamento, Ramil Soriano Brucal, Michael Jhon Cabalhin, Ricky Castillote, Carmelo Clarion, Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, Efren Echalico, Larry Franco, Junrich Malolot, Rodolfo Mande, Luis Marisma, Judah Pantig; Antoinette Principe, Rowena Soriano, Alberto Ungab, Lorenzo Benjamin Villafuerte, Trisha Ann Villafuerte, and Rachel Zobrado. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews with a report by Carolyn O. Arguillas)
