Senate panels OK increase in campaign expenses

The Senate committees on electoral reforms, and ways and means have approved a bill seeking to increase the authorized expenses of candidates and political parties.

Thirteen senators signed Committee Report No. 24 including electoral reforms committee chairperson Imee Marcos, and ways and means committee chairperson Pia Cayetano.

The committees proposed to increase the aggregate amount all candidates may spend for election campaign to P50 for every registered voter.

It further proposed that a candidate without a political party and without support from any political party maybe allowed  to spend P30 provided that the total amount a candidate may spend shall not be less than P500,000.

Under Section 12 of Republic Act 7166 or Synchronized National and Local Elections Act, presidential and vice presidential candidates may only spend P10 for every voter while other candidates may shell out P3. Candidates without a political party are allowed to spend P5 per voter.

Under the committee report, political parties will be allowed to spend P30 for every voter registered in the constituency or constituencies where it has official candidates from P5 under the present law.

It also proposed that every six years from the effectivity of the law, the Commission on Elections, in consultation with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine Statistics Authority shall adjust the amounts of authorized expenses based on the official consumer price index. —LDF, GMA News