Cebu City outgoing Mayor Tomas Osmeña (right) and incoming Mayor Edgar Labella (left) | CDN file photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Outgoing Mayor Tomas Osmeña spent more than P1.8 million during the election campaign from March to May 2019, which is at least P900,ooo more than his opponent, incoming Mayor Edgardo Labella as revealed in their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
Both mayoral candidates filed their SOCEs on June 13, right on the deadline for the filing of the documents of all candidates, win or lose, are obliged to submit to the to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
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In his SOCE, Osmeña revealed that he spent a total of P1,805,076.42 for the 42-day campaign period including advertisements, campaign materials, and honoraria for volunteers.
He declared zero contributions from any entity whether cash or kind.
Osmeña spent most for his campaign volunteers paying a total of P438,750 for their honoraria. He did not reveal how many volunteers were given an honoraria.
Similarly, he also paid his poll watchers and this totals P180,000 for all the poll watchers who served for Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) during the election and canvassing day.
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The outgoing mayor spent a total of P350,000 on campaign materials which would include the two major rallies BO-PK hosted in the Cebu City Sports Complex on March 30 and May 5.
Meanwhile, Labella declared a total expenditure of P904,225.46 on his SOCE for the entire campaign period.
He also declared a total of P1,017,604.58 worth of contributions in kind. Labella declared that he received zero cash contributions.
Labella’s biggest contribution in kind are television advertisements reaching a total of P905,357.64.
His largest expenditure was a total of P275,000 on campaign materials as well which would include the three biggest campaign sorties they conducted, two on March 29 and a meeting de avance on May 9.
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Despite spending less personally, Labella’s total campaign reached P1,921,830 with personal expenditure and contributions combines.
Labella’s campaign was at least P100,000 more expensive that Osmeña’s in terms of total expense.
South District election officer, Lawyer Marchel Sarno said that even with the huge amounts declared by Osmeña and Labella, none of them went pass their allowable limits.
A local candidate can spend only P3 per candidate and with Cebu City’s vote-rich population of 700,000, mayoral and vice-mayoral candidates are allowed to spend up to P2.1 million.
The Comelec stopped receiving SOCEs at 8 p.m. of June 13. Sarno said any SOCE passed beyond the deadline would incur penalties.
A candidate, who has been able to comply with a complete SOCE, is given a notice of compliance. Incomplete SOCEs means no notice of compliance and this can incur penalties for the candidates in the following days.
As of 6 p.m. of June 13, the Comelec in Cebu City has already received 40 SOCEs from the candidates of the past elections.
“If they have submitted a SOCE and they received a notice of compliance, they are good to go,” said Sarno./dbs