Comelec kickstarts plan
for campaign finance unit

NEARLY a year after the costliest elections yet in Philippine history, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is finally taking steps to create a Campaign Finance Unit (CFU) that may be key in the effective enforcement of laws on electoral expenses and donations.

In a meeting last Mar. 24, Commissioner Rene Sarmiento assigned Josefina de la Cruz, Clerk of the Commission and Josielyn de Mesa, Law Department Deputy Chief, to draft an organizational model for the unit in two weeks. Both lawyers were once part of an ad hoc committee that examined the expenditures of and contributions to candidates and political parties in the 1992 national elections.

The meeting was held after the Comelec issued Resolution No. 9146 last Feb. 19. The resolution, which approved the CFU in principle, was made after the Pera’t Pulitika2010 Consortium submitted a proposal for the creation of the unit through a concept note prepared by Atty. Luie Tito F. Guia of the Lawyers’ League for Liberty or Libertas. The Transparency and Accountability Network also made a similar recommendation later.

Read Attorney Guia’s Concept Paper on Establishing a Campaign Finance Unit in Comelec.

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. welcomed the proposal, noting that no one has ever been prosecuted for campaign overspending. Brillantes said that unlike in the United States, running a campaign in the Philippines can be somewhat of an “open house” where “nobody looks, nobody goes into the details after the elections.”

The Comelec chairman, however, cautioned that a very strict implementation of campaign finance requirements might result in an election without candidates because they may all end up disqualified.

Commissioner Sarmiento, for his part, said that the creation of the unit will help flesh out the country’s commitment to democratic processes as stated in the 1987 Constitution and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

In the meeting, Guia dicussed his concept on establishing a campaign finance unit in the Comelec before representatives of the Commission’s Law Department, Education and Information Department, Election Records and Statistics Department, and Information Technology Department – all of whom would most likely be working on the CFU. Guia discussed the current campaign finance regulatory practice in the Philippines and the possible powers and functions of the Campaign Finance Unit.

PCIJ Executive Director Malou Mangahas also shared the Center’s experience in monitoring candidates’ expenditures and donations in last year’s elections. As member of the PAP 2010 Consortium, PCIJ audited the election expense reports of candidates for president and vice-president and their political parties. Analyses of these reports revealed how candidates splurged millions on the air and ground wars for votes and how they managed to defy spending limits set in law. These findings were attributed to porous laws and unclear guidelines and the weak enforcement thereof.

On Sarmiento’s request, the Comelec officials and the PAP members will meet again to work on organizational details and capacity-building activities. PCIJ, March 2011