Comelec seeks public’s help in scrutinizing campaign spending reports

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia —(Noy Morcoso/ INQUIRER.net file photo)

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has called for public vigilance in monitoring election campaign spending through a new digital system that provides open access to statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs).

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia made this call on Thursday as the poll body soft launched Project SURI (Siyasatin, Unawain, Resolbahin, at Ipanagot) in preparation for its official rollout in the Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections on October 13.

With this platform, candidates can now upload and generate online reports of their SOCEs, making the process more streamlined and accessible to the public.

READ: Comelec launches online submission platform for SOCE

Garcia asked for the public’s assistance in spotting discrepancies and red flags in the submitted SOCEs of candidates for national and local posts.

“It’s not enough that we require [candidates] to submit [SOCEs] by the law. When [SOCEs] are publicized, all of us have a corresponding obligation to review and scrutinize,” Garcia said,

Garcia also said that the SOCEs of the candidates and party-list groups from the May 2025 elections are now uploaded in the Comelec website.

Garcia detailed that the Political Finance and Affairs Department, the department assigned to spearhead Project SURI, has only 48 staff members in contrast to the over 44,000 candidates who ran in the last elections.

Due to this, he emphasized that public participation is crucial in identifying questionable receipts and unaccounted campaign expenditures.

 “The candidate used a helicopter; why is it not accounted for? That candidate handed out food—why isn’t it reflected in the report? Giving food is even prohibited,” Garcia said, as an example.

“We have to demand and we have to account,” he added.

READ: DILG maintains no elected official can assume office without filing Soce 

Garcia also said that the Comelec will be coordinating with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Right to Know, Right to Now! Coalition to expand citizen awareness about the public’s right to access and question SOCEs through Project SURI.

When asked if they will be working with local government units for the project, Garcia said that they will coordinate with Comelec field offices to disseminate information at the community level.  (Ryanna Aquino,INQUIRER.net trainee) /gsg