Comelec coordinating with SEC

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday reminded businessmen that corporations are banned from making campaign contributions.

Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said they are coordinating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make sure that the restriction will be implemented.

“We are reminding, although it’s not really under Comelec’s (jurisdiction),  corporations – whether stock or non-stock – are prohibited from giving campaign contributions. That’s under the SEC but we incorporate it as part of our information and dissemination campaign,” Lim said.

He said the prohibition is provided for in Section 36 of the Corporation Code, which states that “no corporation, domestic or foreign, shall give donations in aid of any political organization or candidate for purpose of partisan political activity.”

“In a month, we are coming up with a MOA (memorandum of agreement) regarding information sharing between the Comelec and the SEC. We may also have information that they may need,” he said.

But Lim said a person associated with a corporation is not covered by the prohibition.

“That is a separate person… We still have to follow that a corporation is a separate judicial entity,” he added.