Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia on Monday said political parties proven to have received foreign funding may be disqualified as the poll body ramps up its scrutiny of campaign finance violations ahead of the May midterm elections.

“Kapag po buong partido, pwede po buong partido ang aming idi-disqualify lalo pa’t may proof na talagang foreign funded yung pagkampanya ng mismong partido na ‘yan. No choice po kami. We have to apply and implement the law. ‘Yun po kasi ang nakalagay sa ating batas (If it’s an entire party, we can disqualify the entire party, especially since there is proof that the campaign of that party itself was actually foreign funded. We have no choice. We have to apply and implement the law. That’s what our law says),” Garcia said in an ambush interview at the Senate.

Garcia urged candidates to thoroughly verify the citizenship status of donors, especially those based abroad.

“Kapag po may nagdo-donate sa inyo lalo na galing sa abroad, tanungin niyo muna kung Filipino citizen pa ba o dual citizen. Kapag dual citizen, Pilipino pa din. Eh maya-maya dating Pilipino at ‘di na pala Pilipino ngayon, iba na ang citizenship, eh foreign funded na o foreign donation na po ‘yon (When someone donates to you, especially from abroad, first ask if they are still Filipino citizens or dual citizens. If they are dual citizens, they are still Filipinos. Well, after a while, they were Filipinos and now they are no longer Filipinos, the citizenship is different, it is foreign funded or foreign donation). That is a ground to disqualify that particular candidate,” he said.

He explained that while Comelec’s jurisdiction ends once a candidate is proclaimed, takes the oath, and assumes office by noon of June 30, action can still be taken if a case is filed before proclamation.

“Basta po natapos na ang proklamasyon ng kandidato, nakapag-oath, nakapag-assume by June 30 noon, mawawalan na po ng jurisdiction ang Comelec. So sana po, maihabol man lang nila bago magproklamasyon kasi kung sakali ang National Security Council ibigay lang sa amin (As long as the candidate’s proclamation is complete, he/she has taken the oath, assumed office by June 30, the Comelec will no longer have jurisdiction. So hopefully, they can at least pursue it before the proclamation because just in case, the National Security Council will just hand it over to us), then we can file the necessary petition and case,” he said.

“At least kahit naiproklama na sila, may pending case sa amin. Number one, we can suspend the proclamation, so walang naging congressman o walang naging senador. Number two, in the case of local candidates, kahit na-proklama na sila, kahit pa nakapag-assume na, basta may pending case sa amin (At least even though they have been proclaimed, there is a pending case with us. Number 1, we can suspend the proclamation, so no one has become a congressman or a senator. Number 2, in the case of local candidates, even though they have been proclaimed, even though they have assumed, as long as there is a pending case with us), we can still remove them,” he added.

Garcia said violators may face both disqualification and criminal prosecution.

“One to six years imprisonment po ‘yan. ‘Yan pong election offense. Dalawang kaso po ang aming pina-file. Una, disqualification. Number two, election offense sa aming law department (One to six years imprisonment. That’s an election offense. We filed two cases. First, disqualification. Number 2, election offense in our law department),” he said.

Garcia also responded to criticisms that the Comelec plays both prosecutor and judge in election offense cases, saying the arrangement is part of the institution’s legal mandate.

He emphasized that candidates can avoid legal trouble by simply following the rules.

As of now, Garcia said the Commission is looking into nearly 400 possible election law violations, many of which are related to vote buying. (PNA)