Pera
Pera, pulitika, at eleksyon:
Comelec lays down rules
By Malou Mangahas
THE ELECTION campaign period is on and in the nick of time, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has spelled out in no uncertain terms the rules of the game on election spending and donations for all candidates, political parties, service contractors, election personnel, and voters.
Campaign finance has always been a muddled issue in these parts, the laws observed largely in the breach. Except for a few thousand pesos of fines that had been imposed on a handful, not a single candidate, party leader or voter had been jailed for the most gross and the most willful violations.
On Jan. 16, 2013, the Comelec en banc issued Resolution No. 9616, or the General Instructions for the Implementation of Campaign Finance Laws, as well as the relevant provisions of the Omnibus Election Code and The Fair Elections Act.
Tuesday’s resolution supplements Comelec Resolution No. 9467 issued last year, which created the Comelec’s Ad Hoc Campaign Finance Unit (CFU) now under the diligent stewardship of Commissioner Christian Robert S. Lim.
A 25-page edict (including template filing forms), it is clear and exact about the roles, duties, accountabilities, procedures, and penalties for violations as well as acts of omission, and covers the various phases of the election period from monitoring and reporting of expenses to the audit of election spending reports, after the vote.
Because it is precise to the extent of defining which parties are liable for which violations, the resolution is at core fair warning to all election actors that violations may be committed only as pure acts of ignorance or defiance of the law, or even, as sheer failure of logic or character or intention on the part of violators.
Comelec personnel from headquarters (Campaign Finance Unit) to the field have been designated as implementing agents throughout the election period, and unto the audit of election spending reports.
It lists
Comelec lays down rules
By Malou Mangahas
THE ELECTION campaign period is on and in the nick of time, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has spelled out in no uncertain terms the rules of the game on election spending and donations for all candidates, political parties, service contractors, election personnel, and voters.
Campaign finance has always been a muddled issue in these parts, the laws observed largely in the breach. Except for a few thousand pesos of fines that had been imposed on a handful, not a single candidate, party leader or voter had been jailed for the most gross and the most willful violations.
On Jan. 16, 2013, the Comelec en banc issued Resolution No. 9616, or the General Instructions for the Implementation of Campaign Finance Laws, as well as the relevant provisions of the Omnibus Election Code and The Fair Elections Act.
Tuesday’s resolution supplements Comelec Resolution No. 9467 issued last year, which created the Comelec’s Ad Hoc Campaign Finance Unit (CFU) now under the diligent stewardship of Commissioner Christian Robert S. Lim.
A 25-page edict (including template filing forms), it is clear and exact about the roles, duties, accountabilities, procedures, and penalties for violations as well as acts of omission, and covers the various phases of the election period from monitoring and reporting of expenses to the audit of election spending reports, after the vote.
Because it is precise to the extent of defining which parties are liable for which violations, the resolution is at core fair warning to all election actors that violations may be committed only as pure acts of ignorance or defiance of the law, or even, as sheer failure of logic or character or intention on the part of violators.
Comelec personnel from headquarters (Campaign Finance Unit) to the field have been designated as implementing agents throughout the election period, and unto the audit of election spending reports.
It lists