Aklan vice mayor faces Comelec case for election overspending

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

A candidate for mayoral post in 2010 local elections in Batan, Aklan will face an election case for campaign overspending.

Dante Tulio Reyes was found to spend over 475.08 percent of the limit allowed by law when he ran for mayor in the 2010 local elections, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Christian Robert Lim. 

Reyes is currently the elected vice mayor of Batan, Aklan. He won in the 2013 local elections. 

The poll body said Reyes is among the top three individuals who overspent including Ibrahim Mitoon Macadato who ran for mayor in Butig, Lanao del Sur in 2013 (1459.70%) and Gima Gami Kallahal who ran as member of the Sangguniang Bayan in Tuburan, Basilan in 2010 with (424.66%).

An online news report stressed that Reyes had spent a total of P325,000 compared to the allowed expense of P56,514 in 2010 in violation of the Omnibus Election Code. Since Batan, Aklan with 20 barangays have 18,838 registered voters for the 2010 local elections, he was allowed to spend P56,514 for his campaign. 

Comelec on July 7 issued an en banc resolution for the filing of cases of overspending against the 35 individuals who ran during the 2010 and 2013 local elections. The list of local candidates composed of five congressmen, three governors, 20 mayors, three vice mayors, three Sangguniang Bayan members and one member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

The Comelec Law Department, which conducted the preliminary investigation of the candidates, recommended the filing of charges to the en banc.

Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7166 allowed election candidates to personally spend P3 for every voter currently registered in the constituency, where he filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC). 

After the election, the candidates are required to submit their statement of contributions and expenditures to the Comelec.

 

Until RA 7166 is amended, the poll body will have to enforce the present spending limits for candidates. The law further provides that no candidate shall spend for his election campaign more than the amount set by the law. 

If found guilty, candidates are facing the penalty of imprisonment of one to six years, disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.