Comelec launches online submission platform for SOCE
The Commission on Elections launches Project SURI, the online submission platform for statements of contribution and expenditure, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. — Photo from Comelec/Office of Comelec Chairman
MANILA, Philippines — Election candidates will now be able to submit their statements of contribution and expenditures (SOCEs) online through a platform launched by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The Comelec on Thursday soft launched Project SURI (Siyasatin, Unawain, Resolbahin, at Ipanagot) ahead of its full implementation for the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections on October 13.
The filing of SOCEs were previously done manually, either submitted at the Comelec main office for national candidates and party-lists, or at a Comelec office where local candidates filed their certificates of candidacies.
READ: 6 out of 66 senatorial candidates fail to submit SOCE
According to Comelec Commissioner Nelson Celis, the head of the commission’s digitalization program, the platform aims to modernize campaign finance management to ensure transparency and accountability.
“It shows our renewed perspective on how we must fulfill our constitutional mandate to ensure that the elections are not only peaceful and orderly but they are auditable, transparent, just, and fair such as violators of election laws and rules are held accountable,” Celis said in his speech.
Celis also said that the platform will be risk-free of any vulnerabilities and hacking once it is implemented.
When asked of the measures done to ensure its security features, Celis said that the poll body coordinated with the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
“They made sure that through the vulnerability assessment, the SURI Project is free from any possible intrusion or possible hacking,” Celis said.
Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the submission of SOCEs for the Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections may be done manually and online as the poll body expects that many candidates will still navigate the new online platform.
Garcia also reiterated the importance of filing for SOCE within the 30-day period after an election as it is mandated under the Republic Act 7166.
The law also states that “[n]o person elected to any public office shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required.”
READ: DILG maintains no elected official can assume office without filing Soce
Platform walkthrough
Demonstrating the platform in its beta version, Comelec’s Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) Information Officer Leo Lim said that the candidates must first create an account in the platform to submit their SOCEs.
Photo by Dianne Sampang/Inquirer
Once an account is successfully created, the candidates can now download and answer the separate forms for the contributions and expenditures.
Once the respective documents are correctly filled out and uploaded under the “Contributions” and “Expenditures” tabs, the SOCE can now be viewed under the “Report Generation” tab.
Photo by Dianne Sampang/Inquirer
Under the “Report Generation” tab, the candidates can download “Acknowledgement of Submission” to acknowledge the submission of SOCE.
However, Lim clarified that the acknowledgment is different from a Certificate of Compliance, which can only be issued once the PFAD certifies that the SOCE is compliant with all the requirements needed.
Photo by Dianne Sampang/Inquirer
Lim added that once the SOCE is finalized and generated, it can not be edited in the platform. The candidate who wishes to have it amended must inform the PFAD first.
Lim also shared that the public can also view SOCEs through a different platform. He noted that this platform is still under the beta version. /das
