Topnotchers Villar, Poe among early filers of SOCE

Senators Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe, topnotchers in the May 2019 Senate race, led the 19 Senate bets who filed their Statement of Campaign Expenditures (SOCE) before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday, June 13, in time for the deadline set by the poll body.

Villar, who topped the race with over 25 million votes, filed her SOCE on June 11.

Poe, who settled for second place with over 22 million votes, filed her SOCE on the afternoon of June 13.

Other winners among the early birds were Senator Nancy Binay, as well as Senators-elect Pia Cayetano and Christopher "Bong" Go.

Binay, who finished 12th in the May 2019 Senate race, filed her SOCE last June 11.

Cayetano, who finished fourth, filed her SOCE on June 12.

Go, who ranked third in the race and a trusted aide of President Rodrigo Duterte, filed his SOCE on June 13.

On the other hand, 14 Senate bets in the recent May polls also submitted their respective SOCEs on time. These include:

Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano

former House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III

election lawyer Romulo Macalintal

former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II

human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno

former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay

former journalist Jiggy Manicad

Elmer Francisco

Junbert Guigayuma

Maguindanao Representative Zajid Mangudadatu

Allan Montaño

Joan Nalliw

Willie Ong

Antonio Valdes and

Rodolfo Javellana

Of the 14, six are from the Liberal Party-led opposition slate Otso Diretso namely: Alejano, Tañada III, Macalintal, Roxas, Diokno and Hilbay.

While June 13 is the deadline set by the Comelec to file the SOCE regardless if the candidate won or lost in the polls, the law allows the winners of the May 2019 polls to file their SOCE within six months since the date of proclamation.

In this case, the winners in the race for national positions (senator and party-list) were proclaimed last May 22.

In total, there are 19 candidates for the Senate who already filed their SOCEs as of 3 p.m. Thursday, June 13.

The penalty for late filing of SOCE ranges from P6,000 to P10,000, depending on the position sought by the candidate.

The Comelec’s campaign finance office will receive the SOCEs until 8 p.m. Thursday, June 13. — RSJ, GMA News