House of Representatives plenary hall (PNA file photo)
MANILA – The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a measure proposing an increase in the spending limit of candidates and political parties for the election campaign.
During the plenary session, the chamber approved through voice voting House Bill 8370, which seeks to increase the authorized campaign expenses of candidates and political parties by amending Section 13 of Republic Act 7166, or the “Synchronized National and Local Elections and Electoral Reforms Act".
Under the measure, the authorized amount that presidential candidates may spend for election campaigns is at PHP50 for every voter; while the amount for vice-presidential candidates is at PHP40 for every voter.
The bill also proposes that the authorized election campaign expenses of candidates for senator, district representative, governor, vice-governor, board member, mayor, vice-mayor, councilor, and party-list representative are at PHP30 per voter.
For political parties, the proposed cap shall be at PHP30 for every voter currently registered in the constituency or constituencies where it has official candidates.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), in consultation with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine Statistics Authority, shall make the necessary adjustments on the spending limits based on ensuing national inflation rate and consumer price index.
TINGOG party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, author of the bill, said the authorized campaign expenditures should be increased to a more realistic level considering the current prices of election-related materials and services.
The current law provides that the authorized expenses of candidates and political candidates range from PHP5 to PHP10 only for every voter.
"The existing cap on the authorized campaign expenses poses a problem for candidates as inflation affects the prices of their operational services as well as the necessary materials, advertisements, and even transportation expenses. Aside from those, the corresponding salary of human resource necessary for their campaigns also increased," Acidre said. (PNA)
