30 Cebu candidates file SOCEs a few hours before deadline
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The deadline for the submission of Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) is up in a few hours, and in Cebu province, 30 candidates have already filed their documents.
Data from the Commission on Elections in Cebu (Comelec-Cebu) showed that a total of 30 bets during the recently concluded May 9 polls have submitted their SOCEs as of 12 noon on Wednesday, June 8.
Among those who recently filed their SOCEs were reelected Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, and her challenger and former Tourism Sec. Joseph “Ace” Durano.
Garcia submitted her documents on June 7 while Durano, together with his brother, former Cebu 5th district rep. Ramon ‘Red’ Durano VI, gave their SOCEs on June 8.
Several reelected Cebu officials have also filed their SOCEs. These include Representatives Pablo John Garcia (3rd District), Duke Frasco (5th District), Peter John Calderon (7th District), and Board Members Yolanda Daan and Raul Bacaltos (1st District), Red Duterte (5th District), Kerrie Shimura and Horacio Franco (4th District), and John Ismael Borgonia and Victoria Corominas – Toribio (3rd District).
Newly elected officials such as outgoing Board Member and now incoming Cebu 2nd District Rep. Edsel Galeos, Michael Joseph Villamor (incoming Board Member, 5th District), Cesar Baricuatro (incoming Board Member, 7th District) and Raymond Joseph Calderon (incoming Board Member, 2nd District) have also filed their SOCEs.
Even candidates who lost their bids in the last elections have submitted their SOCEs. These are Dr. Ron Del Mar (aspiring Board Member, 1st District), Frederico Garcia (aspiring Board Member, 6th District), Robert Tambis (aspiring Board Member, 2nd District), and aspiring Board Members Jerard Almendras and Jude Thaddeus Sybico (both from the 5th District).
Deadline for the filing of SOCEs is at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
The first eight candidates in Cebu province who disclosed their campaign expenses were reelected Vice Governor Hilario Davide III, Rep. Janice Salimbangon (reelected, 4th District), Board Members Jose Mari “Tata” Salvador (outgoing 2nd District), Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano (reelected, 6th District), and Raul Bacaltos (reelected, 1st District), newly elected Rep. Daphne Lagon (incoming, 6th District), and aspirants Celestino “Tining” Martinez III (current ABC-Cebu province President who ran for Congress of Cebu’s 4th District), and Jose Brainard Mayol (Board Member, 4th District).
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, Provincial Elections Supervisor of Comelec-Cebu, said winning candidates, who will fail to submit their SOCEs on time, may face consequences such as their perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
“They are given a period of six months since proclamation to submit their SOCEs. Otherwise, they will not be able to take office,” Brillantes said in Cebuano.
Brillantes was referring to a provision of the Omnibus Election Code which gives winners of every elections at least six months to submit their SOCEs otherwise, the position in which they were elected will be declared as vacant.
A total of 51 candidates vied for 23 Capitol and congressional seats during the National and Local Elections held last May 9.
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