Comelec exec: Poll expense reports of candidates hard to believe

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is having difficulty believing some of poll expense reports filed by candidates who ran in the latest automated polls. Some candidates have declared expenses that are "far less" than what the poll body expected, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said on Thursday. "In general, there are some assertions that are a little fantastic... a lot of (them are) difficult to believe," Jimenez told reporters in an interview. However, he did not identify who these candidates were. So far, no candidate has admitted to surpassing the spending limit set by the poll body. Comelec Resolution 8944 says that candidates for president and vice president with political parties are only allowed to spend P10 per registered voter while other candidates also with parties may spend P3 per voter. On the other hand, candidates without the support of political parties may spend P5 for every voter. For this year's elections, there were about 50.7 million registered voters. Villar, Roxas top list Senator Manuel Villar Jr. declared the highest campaign expenditures among presidential candidates, saying his camp spent P431,557,816. On the other hand, Senator Manuel Roxas II spent the most among vice presidential aspirants at P279,351,224. Earlier, President-elect Benigno "Nonyoy" Aquino III said he spent around P403 million during the campaign. [See: Noynoy spent P403M during campaign — Comelec data]

"It's very important to check to see if the reports are righteous. These are the things that you have to question... we really have to go into checking," said Jimenez. Although the poll body said that it has no way of verifying the expenditure reports, the body is looking into tapping the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Commission on Audit (COA) to help them. "We would probably favor government partnerships ... this is all part of the after care of an elections. The government is never out of resources to do what's right," he said. The Comelec is also open to asking non-government organizations like the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the election finance watchdog Pera at Pulitika for help in auditing, Jimenez said. Deadline extended Earlier, the Comelec extended the deadline of filing statements of contributions and expenditures from June 9 to June 24. Comelec Resolution 8944 says that the statement must indicate the amount of contribution, the date of its receipt, and the full name and address of the person who gave the contribution. It should also state the amount of every expenditure, the date it was incurred, the full name and address of the person who paid for it, and the purpose of the expenditure. It should likewise indicate if there is an "unpaid obligation" to any person. The resolution says that failure to file the statement will constitute an administrative offense which is punishable by a fine ranging from P1,000 to P30,000 at the discretion of the Comelec. Violation of the spending limit is also an election offense, which is punishable by disenfranchisement, disqualification from holding public office, and imprisonment from one to six years. — RSJ, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV