18 Davao City Local Bets Fail to Submit SOCE

A TOTAL of 79 out of the 97 local candidates in Davao City filed their Statements of Contributions and Expenses (Soce) as of June 11, 2025, the last day of the filing of Soce, at the Commission on Elections-Davao City (Comelec-Davao City) in Magsaysay Park. 

The office reported that three out of five mayoral candidates and all four vice mayoral candidates have submitted Soce.

For the First District, 22 out of 23 councilor bets and all five candidates for the House of Representatives in the First District have submitted their Soce.

In the Second District, all three candidates for the House of Representatives and 20 of 25 candidates for councilor have submitted their Soce.

Meanwhile, in the Third District, 20 councilor bets out of 27, and two congressional candidates out of five completed filing their Soce. 

Ramon Bargamento, a candidate for councilor for the third district who did not win the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE), said that he already filed his Soce last week, but there were multiple corrections, thus, he went back to the Comelec. 

“Importante gyud kaayo ni, mao man gyud ni atoang gituman upon ni file ug pagkahuman sa pagfile duna tay gipangpirmahan na mga regulasyon apil na diri ang pagfile ug Soce pagkahuman sa election so mu-follow gyud ta,” he said.
(This is really very important, since this is what we are obligated to do. Upon filing and completing the process, we signed certain regulations, including the filing of the Soce after the election, so we really have to follow it.)

Bargamento said that it is important that they follow the law and submit Soce, which every candidate was given 30 days after the election to comply with. He said that he does not want to receive any penalties from the government. 

Lawyer Shajani M. Ebrahim, chairperson of the Board of Canvassers and Third District Election Officer, said that several candidates have arrived at their office, especially during the last day for the Soce filing. She stressed that there will no longer be an extension, reiterating that the candidates were given 30 days to comply.
“So far daghan niabot karung adlawa, lalo na this last hour, daghan kaayo niabot (So far, many have arrived today, especially in these last hours so many have really come),” she said. 

She said that win or lose, candidates must file their Soce, especially since their office has continually reminded them that filing of Soce is required regardless of the result of the elections. 

She shared that most of the winning candidates have submitted their Soce while those who were unlucky in the election have not submitted.

Ebrahim said that failure to submit Soce constitutes to election violation and must be subjected to a fine. She said that for the first offense, candidates in the House of Representatives would be liable to pay P30,000; city mayors and vice mayors are subject to P20,000 fine, while for the councilors, it’s P15,000. 

For the second offense, for House of Representatives candidates, it’s P60,000 and perpetual disqualification to run for public office. 

She said that despite paying the fine, the candidates would not be absolved of their administrative liability, adding that they would be receiving a letter from the Comelec main office for their failure to submit their Soce. 

She also said that they will submit to Manila to their central office the filled-out Soce. 

Ebrahim said that only 13 candidates submitted their Soce on Tuesday, 17 on Monday, while the remaining candidates submitted on the day of the deadline. 

George Garcia, Comelec chairperson, said on June 3, 2025, that there are no plans to grant an extension and reiterated that the deadline remains June 11. He emphasized that the deadline had been announced well in advance.

Comelec warned that any candidate who fails to submit their Soce will not be allowed to assume office and may face administrative sanctions. Those who comply will be issued a Certificate of Formal Compliance, which must be submitted upon assuming office. RGP with reports from PNA