Comelec to monitor campaign expenses

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will create a task force clothed with the powers to scrutinize contributions to the war chest and expenditures of individual candidates and political parties.

Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo was amenable to the formation of the task force that will have the authority to audit campaign expenses.

Borra said through the task force, the poll body will be stricter in monitoring political campaign contributions and expenses in connection with the May 14 polls.

He said the task force was meant to strengthen the agency’s visitorial powers to go over the candidates’ and political parties’ contracts for the printing of election campaign materials, as well as advertisement deals with broadcast and print media outlets.

"These are the things the task force can do because it will strictly enforce monitoring of contributions and expenditures, instead of just waiting for the parties and the candidates to submit to us statements as required by the Omnibus Election Code," Borra stressed.

He said the Comelec’s visitorial power was provided for by the code, but was not enforced for sheer lack of funds and personnel.

Meanwhile, former Comelec Chairman Harriet Demetriou tagged Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco as the main proponent of the poll body’s resolution covering purchase of several vehicles to be used in the implementation of its national precinct mapping (NPM) and computerized voters’ list (CVL) projects.

Demetriou said Tancangco proposed the procurement of the vehicles which was approved by the commission under Resolution 3295.

Demetriou said Tancangco impressed upon her and the other commissioners about the need to buy the vehicles to be used not only by the NPM field officers, but also for the distribution of election paraphernalia.

Resolution 3295 stipulated that the vehicles to be bought consisted of 20 units of Mitsubishi Strada costing P890,000 each, 15 units of Ford Ranger XL costing P560,000 each, 100 units of Yamaha motorcycles worth P58,000 each, and two units of Mitsubishi Rosa with the price tag of P1,819,000 apiece.

The funds for the procurement of the vehicles would come from the P297-million allocation for the NPM and CVL projects.

Demetriou admitted that she signed Tancangco’s requisition papers, then forwarded the documents to Malacañang for the President’s final approval.

"But I did not have a hand in the acquisition of these vehicles because I was never a member of the bidding and awards committee, either for the modernization program or for the regular operations of the commission," Demetriou pointed out.

She claimed she was not consulted on how the vehicles would be distributed, adding that the same was done by Tancangco herself a few days after her retirement last Feb. 2.