VP- Elect Leni Robredo’s disqualification due to LP non-compliance to COMELEC!

The Liberal Party failed to meet the deadline imposed by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) on the submission of the SOCE.

Section 14 of Republic Act 7166 stipulates that this is grounds for barring any winning candidates nominated by the LP from holding office.

Sec. 14. Statement of Contributions and Expenditures; Effect of Failure to File Statement. – Every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall, within thirty (30) days after the day of the election, file in duplicate with the offices of the Commission the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election. No person elected to any public offices shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required. The same prohibition shall apply if the political party which nominated the winning candidate fails to file the statement required herein within the period prescribed by this Act.

Roxas and the LP had, last Wednesday, the 8th of June, reportedly requested an extension of the deadline citing “voluminous number of receipts that have to be scanned and attached” as their excuse.

Section 2 of Rule 10 issued by the COMELEC applicable for these 2016 elections states that there is absolutely no provision to allow an extension of the 8th of June deadline for filing the SOCE for any reason whatsoever.

The 08 June 2016 deadline shall be final and non-extendible. Submissions beyond this period shall not be accepted. COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 9849 and 9873, Minute Resolutions Nos. 13-0775 and 13-0823 are hereby repealed, insofar as they allowed the belated submission, amendmentand/or correction of campaign finance disclosure statements and reports and the imposition of late penalties for the 2013 National and Local Elections.

Because of this mishap, it seems that Robredo is now deemed unqualified to be Vice President of the Philippines because:

(1) Roxas and the LP failed to meet a non-negotiable requirement;

(2) The deadline for this requirement is non-extendable; and,

(3) Any submission beyond this non-extendable deadline will not be accepted.

Thus the rule “No person elected to any public offices shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required” makes it quite clear: