The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has called on lawmakers to revisit the country’s decades-old Omnibus Election Code, citing legal gaps exposed by the dismissed probe into the campaign finance records of Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta.
In a television interview, Commissioner Rey Bulay described the current legal framework as outdated, saying many provisions no longer align with modern campaign practices.
“Applying the old laws will not solve the problem,” he warned, adding that “the spirit of the law of that time is different” from today.
COMELEC earlier terminated its motu proprio investigation into Marcoleta’s statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE), ruling that no election offense could be established under existing laws despite concerns over alleged undisclosed donations.
Bulay explained that amendments under Republic Act No. 7166 effectively “decriminalized” certain disclosure violations, leaving only administrative penalties.
He noted that Sections 106 to 112—covering reporting requirements on campaign contributions and spending—were removed from the list of election offenses under Section 262 of the code.
The commissioner also pointed to legal limitations in defining candidacy, citing jurisprudence that restricts COMELEC’s authority before the official campaign period.
“An aspirant is only a candidate during the start of the campaign period which allows him to do whatever he wants before the campaign period because we have no jurisdiction over his person, him being not a candidate yet,” he said.
Bulay added that COMELEC had already submitted proposed revisions to the Senate after Senator Imee Marcos, then chair of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, requested a comprehensive review of the 998-page election code.
Congressional data show that more than 10 bills are currently pending in the Senate, while at least 40 measures have been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to amend key provisions of the Omnibus Election Code.