Campaign Expenditure Limits for Sangguniang Bayan Candidates
(Philippine elections – comprehensive legal guide, updated to 21 June 2025)
1. Why the Limits Exist
Campaign-spending ceilings are meant to:
- equalize the chances of rich and poor candidates;
- curb vote-buying and undue influence; and
- help the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) audit money in politics, as directed by the 1987 Constitution (Art. IX-C, §2(7)).
2. Core Statutes & Regulations
| Source | Key provisions for municipal (SB) candidates |
|---|---|
| §13, Republic Act 7166 (1991) | ₱3.00 per registered voter in the municipality/city. (The amount has never been amended.) |
| §§14-15, R.A. 7166 | Mandatory Statement of Contributions & Expenditures (SoCE) within 30 days after Election Day; penalties for late or non-filing. |
| Omnibus Election Code (B.P. 881, 1985) Arts. 261-264 | Defines “election offenses” and imposes imprisonment (1–6 yrs), disqualification, and/or fine for overspending. |
| Fair Election Act (R.A. 9006, 2001) | Caps and rules for political advertising; these costs must be booked inside the ₱3/voter ceiling. |
| COMELEC Resolutions (latest cycle numbers: 10795, 10795-A, 10797 & 10944 for 2025) |
Detailed forms (SOCE Form 5, Schedule A-H), documentation, audit triggers, and graduated administrative fines for late/erroneous filings. |
Pending bills to raise the ₱3.00 ceiling (e.g., HB 7862 [2023] & SB 1798 [2024]) are still in committee; none has become law as of 21 June 2025.
3. How to Compute the Cap
- Determine the official number of registered voters in the municipality, as certified by the local Election Officer on the day the campaign period starts.
- Multiply by ₱3.00. Example: If the municipality has 45,218 voters → 45,218 × ₱3 = ₱135,654 is the candidate’s lifetime spending limit for that election.
Important clarifications
- The cap is per candidate, separate from any amount a political party may spend (party ceiling = ₱5/voter, §13, R.A. 7166).
- Contributions in kind must be monetized at fair market value and counted.
- Unpaid obligations incurred during the campaign period are deemed expenditures when incurred—not when later settled.
4. What Counts as “Campaign Expenditure”
| Included (must be booked) | Expressly Excluded |
|---|---|
| Advertising (print, broadcast, digital); boosting posts | Volunteer personal services (labor rendered freely) |
| Printing of posters, flyers, sample ballots | Use of private vehicles of volunteers driven without rental fees or fuel reimbursement |
| Rallies, miting-de-avances, livestream productions | News coverage of bona-fide events |
| HQ rent, utilities, internet, phone | Cost of allowances for watchers if ≤ ₱500/day/person (COMELEC Res. 10797) |
| Poll-watcher per diems > ₱500/day | Personal funds the candidate uses are still counted; source is irrelevant |
Premature-campaigning expenses. Under Penera v. COMELEC (G.R. 181613, 25 Nov 2009), a person is not yet a “candidate” before the official campaign period, so money spent then is not booked against the ₱3/voter limit. It can still constitute vote buying or other offenses, but it won’t affect the spending cap.
5. Timing Rules
| Phase | Status vis-à-vis the Cap | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Before filing the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) | Outside the cap | Spender is not yet a “candidate” by law (§15, OEC as amended). |
| After COC but before official campaign period | Still outside the cap (per Penera) | Premature campaigning remains prohibited but not counted. |
| Official campaign period until Election Day | Inside the cap | All disbursements & liabilities booked. |
| Election Day itself | Still inside | Includes watcher allowances, get-out-the-vote operations. |
| After Election Day | Not counted, except payments of obligations already incurred (they were booked when incurred). |
6. Statement of Contributions & Expenditures (SoCE)
Who files? Every candidate—winning or losing—and every party/coalition.
Deadline: 30 days after Election Day (no extension).
Forms: SOCE Form 5 + Schedules A–H (2025 cycle numbers).
Required attachments:
- Original official receipts or invoices ≥ ₱500
- Bank certifications of campaign accounts
- Lease contracts, advertising contracts, etc.
Legal consequences
Late filing: Graduated administrative fine (₱1,000–₱30,000) plus possible election-offense prosecution.
Non-filing:
- First offense – Cannot assume office until filed + administrative fine.
- Second consecutive offense – Same + higher fine.
- Third offense (even non-consecutive) – Perpetual disqualification to hold public office (§14, R.A. 7166; Carabeo v. COMELEC, G.R. 227728, 6 Aug 2019).
Material misdeclaration or overspending: Election offense (Art. 261[j], OEC) punishable by 1–6 yrs imprisonment, loss of voting rights for same period, and perpetual disqualification.
7. Enforcement & Audit
- COMELEC Campaign Finance Office (CFO) performs desk audit; red-flags trigger full audit.
- Materiality thresholds (Res. 10795-A): ≥ 5 % variance or undocumented expenditure ≥ ₱10,000.
- CFO may subpoena bank records (§6, R.A. 10756, 2016), suppliers, and media entities.
- Findings are referred either to the Law Department (for prosecution) or to the regional director (for administrative fines).
8. Practical Compliance Tips for SB Candidates
- Open a single-purpose campaign bank account on the day you file your COC.
- Issue official receipts for every contribution received, whether cash or in-kind.
- Enter liabilities immediately; the date of the contract—not payment—determines whether it eats into the cap.
- Cap watcher allowances at ₱500/day to avoid needless bookkeeping.
- Keep a daily cash-flow sheet; reconcile with bank passbook weekly.
- Close the account within 90 days after filing the SoCE and keep records for 5 years (audit prescriptive period).
- Educate volunteers—their out-of-pocket spending must be reported if you later reimburse them.
- Check the voter count in the COMELEC certified list (CRV) published 15 days before the campaign period; don’t guess.
9. Frequently-Asked Questions
| Question | Quick Answer |
|---|---|
| Does “₱3 per voter” adjust for inflation? | Not automatically. Only Congress can amend it; no update since 1991. |
| Are Facebook ads part of the cap? | Yes. COMELEC treats boosted posts as “print/broadcast/mass media” expenditures. |
| If the party pays for tarpaulins, do I count it against my cap? | No, it hits the party’s separate ₱5/voter cap, unless the party assigns the expense to you in writing. |
| Can I donate surplus funds to charity? | Yes, within 1 year after Election Day, but the donation and disposition must be reported to COMELEC (Res. 10944, §39). |
| What if I withdraw my candidacy? | Spendings already made remain reportable; the ₱3/voter ceiling still applies because you were a “candidate” during the period you campaigned. |
10. The Road Ahead
- Legislative momentum exists to raise the obsolete ₱3 figure to ₱10–₱15 per voter and to index it to inflation every five years.
- E-wallet traceability: Starting the 2028 midterm cycle, draft COMELEC rules propose mandatory use of QR-coded e-receipts for online donations < ₱5,000.
- Real-time disclosure portal: A pilot “Campaign Finance Dashboard” went live in March 2025, letting voters view uploaded SOCEs and bank certifications in open-data format.
11. Bottom Line
For a Sangguniang Bayan candidate, every peso spent between the first day of the official campaign period and 11:59 PM of Election Day must fit inside a simple formula:
Total Spending ≤ (Registered Voters × ₱3.00)
Master that rule; document everything; file your SoCE on time—and you will stay on the right side of both COMELEC auditors and criminal prosecutors, while reassuring constituents that your mandate was earned, not bought.