Rule 1

Section 1. Title. - These rules shall be known as the "OMNIBUS RULES & REGULATIONS GOVERNING CAMPAIGN FINANCE & DISCLOSURE". For the sake of brevity, they may be referred to or cited as the "OMNIBUS RULES ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE".

Section 2. Applicability. - These rules shall apply to all national and local elections starting with the 09 May 2016 National and Local Elections. They may be adopted for special, recall, and the barangay elections, as decided by the Commission En Banc.

Section 3. Construction. - These rules shall be strictly construed to uphold the State policy to guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service. [1987 Constitution, Art. II, Sec. 26]

Section 4. Definition of Terms. - Whenever used in these Rules, the following words shall mean:

1. Contribution - includes a gift, donation, subscription, loan, advance or deposit of money or anything of value, or a contract, promise or agreement to contribute, whether or not legally enforceable, made for the purpose of influencing the result of the elections.It shall also include the use of facilities voluntarily donated by other persons, the money value of which can be assessed based on the rate prevailing in the area. [OEC, Sec. 94 (a)].
2. Expenditure - includes the payment or delivery of money or anything of value, or a contract, promise or agreement to make expenditure, for the purpose of influencing the results of the election. It shall also include the use of facilities personally owned by the candidate, the money value of the use of which can be assessed based on the rates prevailing in the area. [OEC, Sec. 94 (b)]
3. Person - includes an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, and any other organization or group of persons. [OEC, Sec. 94 (c)]
4. Candidate - refers to any person aspiring for elective public office who has filed a certificate of candidacy and has not withdrawn the same before the start of the campaign period. It may also refer to any registered national, regional, or sectoral party or organization or coalition thereof that has filed a manifestation to participate in the party-list elections, provided that it has not withdrawn its intent to participatein the elections before the start of the campaign period.
5. Party - refers to either a political party, sectoral party or organization or a coalition of parties, duly registered/accredited with the Commission.[RA 7941, Sec. 3 (b)]
6. Election Campaign or Partisan Political Activity - both of these terms, which may be used interchangeably,refers to an act designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a public office. This act includes:
   1. Forming organizations, associations, clubs, committees or other groups of persons for the purpose of soliciting votes and/or undertaking any campaign for or against a candidate;
   2. Holding political caucuses, conferences, meetings, rallies, parades, or other similar assemblies, for the purpose of soliciting votes and/or undertaking any campaign or propaganda for or against a candidate;
   3. Making speeches, announcements or commentaries, or holding interviews for or against the election of any candidate for public office;
   4. Publishing or distributing campaign literature or materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate; or
   5. Directly or indirectly soliciting votes, pledges or support for or against a candidate.
      
      However, the aforementioned acts, if performed for the purpose of enhancing the chances of aspirants for nomination for candidacy to a public office by a political party, aggroupment, or coalition of parties, shall not be considered as election campaign or partisan political activity.
      
      In addition, public expressions or opinions or discussions of probable issues in a forthcoming election or on attributes of or criticisms against probable candidates proposed to be nominated in a forthcoming political party convention shall not be construed as part of any election campaign or partisan political activity. [OEC, Secs. 79 (b)]
7. Election Propaganda or Political Advertisement -refers to any matter broadcasted, published, printed, displayed or exhibited, in any medium, which contain the name, image, logo, brand, insignia,initials, and other symbol or graphic representation that is capable of being associated with a candidate or party, and intended to draw the attention of the public or a segment thereof to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the election of the said candidate or candidates to public office. In broadcast media, political advertisements may take the form of spots, appearances on TV shows and radio programs, live or taped announcements, teasers, and other forms of advertising messages or announcements used by commercial advertisers.
   
   Political advertising includes matters that appear on any Internet website, including, but not limited to, social media networks, blogging sites, and micro-blogging sites, in return for consideration, or otherwise capable of pecuniary estimation. It does not include similar expressions that fall within the scope of personal opinion. [COMELEC Resolution No. 9615, Sec.1]
8. Rally - a gathering of several persons open to the public for the purpose of endorsing or promoting the election or defeat of a candidate/s.
9. Initial Compliance Check (ICC) - refers to the initial process of determining whether the campaign finance submissions of candidates and parties have complied with the formal requirements as provided in these Rules.
10. Contribution Receipts- refers to the official receipts issued to contributors or donors, as proof of acceptance of their contributions or donations. Said receipts are issued by candidates and party treasurers, or their duly authorized representatives, for every contribution received, whether in cash or in kind.
11. Expenditure Receipts - refers to official receipts, cash invoices, or any document that shows the purchase of goods and/or services for monetary consideration, issued by any business establishment to its clients or customers.
12. Obligations Payable - refers to charge invoices, billing statements, statement of accounts, loan agreements and other documents that show any unpaid obligations of the candidate or party.
13. Certificate of Formal Compliance- refers to a certificate issued by the CFO or the COMELEC field office where candidates or party treasurers submitted their disclosure statements or reports. It shall attest only to the submission of the listed documents, the compliance of the said submission with the formal requirements stated in these Rules, and the receipt thereof by the CFO or COMELEC Field Office. It is not to be construed as a waiver on the part of the Commission to conduct an audit or any further investigation.
14. Field Monitors- refer to the deputized agencies' personnel, and members or volunteers of deputized citizens' arms, civil society groups, non-government organizations or people's organizations who are assisting the Commission to monitor the campaign activities of candidates and parties during the campaign period.
15. Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE)- refers to the complete set of campaign finance disclosure statements that candidates and parties are required to submit by law, in the form set by these Rules. It includes the main SOCE form (Form SCE) and all its relevant Schedules with a copy of the supporting receipts.
16. Contractors and Business Firms - as used in these Rules, they refer to any person, natural or juridical, or firm to whom any electoral expenditure is made. [OEC, Secs. 112]
17. Campaign Finance Submissions or Disclosure Statements/Reports - refer to all the required submissions of candidates, parties, election contractors and business firms, and mass media entities that disclose the financial transactions in all activities that aims to influence voters to vote for or against a candidate or party.
18. COMELEC Field Offices - refer to Offices of the Election Officers, Provincial Election Supervisors, and Regional Election Directors.
19. COMELEC Field Officers - refer to Election Officers, Provincial Election Supervisors, and Regional Election Directors.
20. Mass media entities - shall include entities in broadcast media, print media, outdoor media, and digital media (both Internet and mobile mass media).

Section 5. Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Symbols. - These Rules utilize the following abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols to mean:

Section 6. Form and Template Codes. - To ensure that proper forms are used by candidates, parties, mass media entities, election contractors and business firms, contributors and/or donors and COMELEC Field Officers in their disclosure or reportorial obligations as set in these Rules, three (3)-character codes have been assigned to the forms and templates:

All forms with form codes that start with the letter "T" refer to COMELEC internal office templates exclusively for the use of the COMELEC offices only.

Forms SCE, SCR, SOE, SLE, SUO and SER will have two versions customized specifically for candidates and parties. Candidates, whether supported by a political party or not, must use the forms with form codes ending with suffix code of "C", i.e. Forms SCE-C, SCR-C, SOE-C, SLE-C, SUO-C, and SER-C. Parties, through their party treasurers, must use the forms with form codes ending suffix code of "P", i.e. Forms SCE-P, SCR-P, SOE-P, SLE-P,SUO-P, and SER-P.

Section 7. Authorized Signatories of Disclosure Statements and Reports Related to the Conduct of an Electoral Campaign. - Unless otherwise stated herein, all disclosure reports and statements required by law as implemented in these Rules must be personally signed and executed under oath by the candidate, or in case of parties, the party treasurer. [n]

Section 8. Forms of Disclosure Statements and Reports; Machine-Readable. - All submissions required by these Rules must be machine-readable, with all the entries stated therein encoded. All prescribed forms referred to in these Rules will be made available in Excel, Word or PDF file formats for this purpose. Handwritten submissions shall no longer be allowed, specifically for Forms SCE, SCR, SOE, SLE, SUO, SAC, and SER.

Electronic copies of the prescribed forms referred to in these Rules will be made available online through the COMELEC website upon the promulgation of these Rules. The prescribed forms and templates in these Rules shall be provided in the following file formats (Column 2) and must be submitted in the manner described below (Column 3):

The third column of the table above summarizes the form and file format of the required disclosure reports and statements subject of these Rules. Supporting documents, such as contribution receipts, expenditure receipts, obligation payables, and advertising contracts must be submitted in both hard and soft/electronic copy forms, with the electronic or soft copy in PDF file format, which will be discussed in Section 10 (c) (3) (i) of this Rule.

The provisions on electronic copy submission and efficient use of paper shall not apply to templates (Form Codes TCC, TFC, TRL, TWR) that are intended for use by COMELEC offices only.

Section 9. Efficient Use of Paper Rule and Submission of Soft Copy. - The number of copies of disclosure statements and reports in these Rules shall depend on the place where the disclosure statements and reports shall be filed.

For submissions made directly to the Campaign Finance Office (CFO), only two (2) hard copies are required, with one (1) copy for submission to the CFO and the other returned to the person submitting the same to serve as proof of submission after the receiving date and time stamp of the CFO has been affixed thereon.

For submissions to COMELEC Field Offices, three (3) hard copies are required, which will be used as follows:

1. One (1) copy to be retained at the Field Office to serve as that office's file copy;
2. One (1) copy to be forwarded to the CFO - Main Office;
3. One (1) copy to be returned to the person submitting the same as proof of submission after the receiving date and time stamp of the COMELEC Field Office has been affixed thereon.

In every case, the soft or electronic copy of the submitted form must accompany the hard copy or paper submission, in its final encoded version, only in Excel file format, with either .XLS or .XLSX file extensions. Image files (JPG, PNG, TIF) showing the scanned or photographed hard copy submission of the forms shall not be accepted.

This rule shall be without prejudice to any online, web-based or electronic filing system that the Commission may develop and use for this same purpose.[n]

Section 10. Guidelines for the Submission of the Soft or Electronic Copy of the Forms and their Attachments. -

1. How to submit. - Persons required to submit disclosure statements and reports under these Rules may choose to furnish the COMELEC with the soft or electronic copy of their submissions through any of the following means:
   1. By storing the files in a portable storage device such as a USB flash drive or optical discs such as compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs); or
   2. By e-mailing it to the e-mail address of the COMELEC office tasked to receive the submissions.
2. Acceptable file formats. - Only Excel files (in either .XLS or .XLSX) shall be accepted as the soft copy counterpart of the prescribed forms. For supporting documents, only PDF (portable document format) shall be accepted.
3. File naming convention. - For proper identification of the submitted soft copy/electronic files, they should be named as follows:
   
   1. For disclosure statements or reports that are only submitted once, the file containing the final version of the submitted forms, the file should be named as:
      
      

      [FormCode]_[LastName,FirstName].XLS or .XLSX
      [Filename does not include the XLS or XLSX file extension]
      
      Examples:
      The SOCE and the relevant Schedules of candidate named Ako Candidato would appear as:
      SCE_Candidato,Ako.XLS
      SCR_Candidato,Ako.XLS
      SOE_Candidato,Ako.XLS

      The filename of the Report of Contributions submitted by a donor or contributor named Rich Guy would appear as:
      ROC_Guy,Rich.XLS
      
      The filenames of the SOCE and relevant Schedules of a political party whose name forms the acronym ABC will have the name of the party in the filename and not that of its party treasurer. The submitted files should have filenames that appear as:
      SCE_ABC.XLS
      SCR_ABC.XLS
      SOE_ABC.XLS
   2. For forms that may be submitted more than once, e.g. mass media entities who are required to submit copies of advertising contracts within five (5) days after signing:
      
      [FormCode]_[Name](Date in YYMMDD format).XLS
      
      

      Example:
      For a mass media entity named TVStation submitting a batch of advertising contracts on 01 May 2016, its Summary Report of Advertising Contracts should be named as:
      SAC_TVStation(160501).XLS or XLSX
      
      For a political party named ABC submitting a Notice of Public Rally and Statement of Expenses in connection with a Public Rally held on 06 May 2016:
      NPR_ABC(160506).XLS
      SER_ABC(160506).XLS or XLSX

   3. For supporting documents that are required attachments to certain forms, such as Contribution Receipts for Forms ROC & SCR, Expenditure Receipts for Form SOE, Obligations Payables for Form SUO, Advertising Contracts for Form SAC, and other similar documents, only PDF (Portable Document Format) files shall be accepted, following this filename syntax:

      1. Multiple contribution and expenditure receipts must be scanned and saved in one (1) PDF file each and named as follows:
         
         

         CR_[Name].PDF (Contribution Receipts)
         ER_[Name].PDF (Expenditure Receipts)
         OP_[Name].PDF (Obligations Payables)
         
         AC_[MassMedia](Date).PDF (Ad Contracts)
         
         CR_Candidato,Ako.PDF
         ER_Candidato,Ako.PDF
         OP_Candidato,Ako.PDF
         AC_TVStation(160501).PDF

      2. Due to size limits on file attachments on e-mails, supporting documents may be saved by batch, with each batch of scanned documents saved as one (1) file not exceeding 10MB per file. In case this happens, use this filename syntax:
         

         CR_[Name][Batch Number].PDF
         CR_Candidato,Ako1.PDF
         CR_Candidato,Ako2.PDF

   4. Regardless of whether the chosen method to submit the soft copy is via portable storage or e-mail, the aforementioned file name convention guidelines shall apply. [n]

Section 11. Discrepancies between Hard & Soft Copy Submissions; Hard Copy to Prevail. - In case of a discrepancy between the hard and soft copy submission of any disclosure report made to the Commission under these Rules, the duly signed and notarized hard copy version of the said document or report shall always prevail.