MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives gave its nod to a bill seeking to allow candidates and political parties to spend more per voter during the campaign period.

On Monday, June 1, a total of 213 lawmakers voted yes to House Bill 6095 on its 3rd and final reading. Only 6 legislators voted no and one abstained from the vote. 

If passed into law, HB 6095 will increase the allowed campaign expenditure of candidates and political parties for every voter registered in the constituency where they filed their certificates of candidacy.

The bill would be amending provisions of Republic Act 7166 or the law on the synchronized national and local elections.

Campaign overspending is prohibited under the Omnibus Election Code. This election offense merits imprisonment of one year to 6 years, disqualification from holding public office, and removal of one’s right to vote.

HB 6095 proposes to increase the allowed campaign expenses per voter as follows: 

The bill would also authorize the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine Statistics Authority to adjust the amounts of authorized campaign expenses every 6 years.

The Senate version of HB 6095 already hurdled the committee level. It has to be passed on 2nd and 3rd readings before the bill can be transmitted to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

This is not the first time lawmakers had pushed for a bill increasing the amount of allowed campaign expenditure under the Duterte presidency.  

In the previous 17th Congress, the House passed a similar measure in May 2018, but it did not fly in the Senate. 

In the 2019 midterm elections, former interior secretary and defeated senatorial bet Mar Roxas was the biggest spender with P179,193,153.04, with contributions amounting to P167,050,000.00. He ran under the once-ruling Liberal Party. (READ: How much did Senate bets spend, receive in 2019 election campaign?) 

Among the winning senators, ex-presidential aide Bong Go spent the most at P161,418,299.31, with P162,035,537.34 worth of contributions. Senate race topnotcher Cynthia Villar spent P135,529,061.09 and reported no contributions. – Rappler.com