A week before deadline, only one candidate submits SOCE in Mandaue City 

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Only one candidate in Mandaue City has filed his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of Thursday, June 6, 2019.

So far, only City Councilor-elect Jimmy Lumapas has submitted his SOCE. The Comelec office in Mandaue City received Lumapas’ SOCE at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.

Lumapas, who ran under the slate of Mayor-elect Jonas Cortes, finished third in the council race with 89,320 votes.

In his SOCE, Lumapas reported to have spent P191,040 within the 45-day campaign period for local candidates. 

Of the amount, at least P103,000 was spent for printing of campaign materials including campaign shirts. The rest of the amount was spent for compensation of his campaign staff.

Enerio Ocariza III of Mandaue City Comelec said that there were other candidates who wanted to submit their SOCE but were advised to come back because they lacked certain attachments such as receipts.

The Comelec Head Office has set the deadline for the filing of SOCEs of all candidates, regardless if they won or lost, on or before June 13, 2019.

Candidates who ran under a party is allowed to spend P3 per registered voter in the locality where they are running while those who ran as independent were allowed to spend P5 per voter.

Mandaue City has 226,091 registered voters.

Overspending in the campaign and failure to submit SOCEs on time merits legal action from the Comelec’s law department. /bmjo