MANILA, Philippines – The election lawyer of Vice President-elect Leni Robredo on Tuesday, June 21, said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) shouldn’t accept the resignation of its Campaign Finance Office (CFO) head over the “policy shift” on the submission of Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).

Commissioner Christian Lim tendered his “irrevocable resignation” as head of the CFO after the Comelec en banc decided to extend the period for the filing of SOCEs.

Robredo, who ran under the Liberal Party (LP), submitted her SOCE on time. Her party and her standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, however, did not. Lim was against extending the deadline to June 30 from the original “final, non-extendible” June 8 deadline.

“To allow Lim to resign from said post will set a very bad precedent in that anytime an action of a Comelec official is not approved by the Comelec En Banc, he or she could just leave his assigned duties and responsibilities,” said lawyer Romulo Macalintal in a statement released by Robredo’s media bureau.

He added: “If that would be the policy, then Comelec officials might as well resign every time the Supreme Court junks or reverses Comelec’s decisions. And there were lots of them in the past and we never heard of any resignation by any of the Comelec officials who rendered said decisions.”

The veteran election lawyer also sought to debunk Lim’s concerns.

Speaking to the media, Lim insisted that extending the deadline for filing spending reports was “illegal.”

Repeating previous statements, Macalintal insisted that not allowing the submission of SOCEs beyond the deadline would be “absurd” since doing so would make candidates “exempt from being investigated by the Comelec.” Those who submit late pay fines ranging form P1,000 to P30,000.

Macalintal said Lim should not be “so thin-skinned if the action of his office was not approved by the Comelec En Banc.” He pointed out that Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista and Commissioned Luie Guia also voted to junk the deadline extension and that “his hurt could always be assuaged with the balm of a clear conscience.”

Besides, added Macalintal, Lim’s office is still under the “direct supervision and control of the Comelec En Banc,” citing. Comelec Resolution No. 9991.

“Thus, in the May 2013 elections where Lim was also the head of the CFO, he was the one who recommended the admission of SOCEs which were filed beyond the deadline and said extensions were approved by the Comelec En Banc,” said Macalintal.

He was referring to the Comelec’s decision in 2014 to eventually accept the late submissions of SOCEs for the 2013 elections.

The issue of SOCE filing and deadlines stirred controversy when it was suggested that Robredo, the highest LP official to win in the 2016 polls, might be barred from assuming her post because of her party’s late submission.

Macalintal said this was of “doubtful constitutionality.” – Rappler.com