Foreigners can't donate, Comelec warns amid online fundraising for Leni's 2022 bid

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Vice President Leni Robredo listens to Senator Kiko Pangilinanas they face members of the press at the Quezon City Reception Hall on October 8, 2021. Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/14/robredo.jpg"/><figcaption>Vice President Leni Robredo listens to Senator Kiko Pangilinanas they face members of the press at the Quezon City Reception Hall on October 8, 2021. Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — Foreigners cannot donate to the campaign of any Filipino candidate, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official on Wednesday said, following the launch of a volunteer-run website that seeks to fund Vice President Leni Robredo&#x27;s presidential run.</p><p>&quot;Foreigners cannot contribute to any Filipino candidate,&quot; Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in a tweet.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Foreigners cannot contribute to any FIlipino candidate. <a href="https://t.co/opAiXxjuiy">https://t.co/opAiXxjuiy</a></p>— Rowena Guanzon (@rowena_guanzon) <a href="https://twitter.com/rowena_guanzon/status/1448061546588872708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Guanzon was reacting to an ABS-CBN News story on the launch of Team Leni Robredo&#x27;s (TLR) crowdfunding page, where supporters may conveniently donate P50 up to P20,000 to Robredo&#x27;s campaign war chest.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/12/21/crowdfunding-page-launched-for-robredos-presidential-bid">Crowdfunding page launched for Robredo&#x27;s presidential bid</a></li></ul><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="LENI" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/14/team-leni.jpg"/></figure></div><p>TLR&#x27;s crowdfunding page relies on the donor&#x27;s good faith about his or her Filipino citizenship. </p><p>Under the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), it is &quot;unlawful for any person to solicit or receive any contribution&quot; from foreigners and foreign corporations.</p><p>&quot;Aside from being an election offense, the solicitation or receipt of contributions from any of the abovementioned persons is also a ground for disqualification under Section 68 (d) of the OEC,&quot; Comelec said in a previous advisory.</p><div><strong>REPORTING REQUIREMENT </strong></div><p>In a phone interview with ABS-CBN News, Comelec&#x27;s Campaign Finance Office (CFO) officer-in-charge Efraim Bag-id also flagged potential flaws in the crowdfunding drive, particularly on identifying the donors.</p><p>&quot;Ang requirement ng batas kasi sa section 98 (OEC) kailangan yung name of the person or contributor lalabas sa list of contributors, so kung ipa-pass the hat mo, crowdfunding, hindi malalaman magkano at sino nagbigay, lumalabas pinasa na lang... Violation yun,&quot; said Bag-id.</p><p>Bag-id was citing a provision of the OEC that states:</p><p>&quot;No person shall make any contribution in any name except his own nor shall any candidate or treasurer of a political party receive a contribution or enter or record the same in any name other than that of the person by whom it was actually made.&quot;</p><p>The TLR website requires donors to cite their name and provide their e-mail address. </p><p>Bag-id also addressed the argument that one is only considered a &quot;candidate&quot; during the campaign period, therefore his or her election expenses should only be monitored thereafter.</p><p>&quot;Wala namang period kung kailan mo tinanggap... Kung ang purpose mo para sa campaign mo syempre puwede kang tumanggap ngayon pero kailangan mo nang i-declare kasi para sa eleksyon mo yan eh,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;It must be included in their submission of their SOCE (Statement of Contributions and Expenditures) if and when naging candidate na sila,&quot; Bag-id added. </p><p>Under the controversial 2009 decision of the Supreme Court now commonly known as the Penera doctrine, a person who files his candidacy is only considered a &quot;candidate&quot; at the start of the campaign period.</p><p>Comelec set the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president, senators, and party-lists from February 8 to May 7, 2022.</p><p>Bag-id clarified that the CFO is not saying crowdfunding is prohibited. But due to its novelty, the office will need to further study the method for possible regulation. </p><p>&quot;Kung kailangan namin maglabas ng policy for that, kung may makikita kaming possible na policy para ma-regulate namin, maglalabas kami,&quot; Bag-id said.</p><div><strong>&#x27;VOLUNTEER EFFORT&#x27;</strong></div><p>In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Robredo&#x27;s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said the crowdfunding drive was a &quot;volunteer initiative.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The crowdfunding page is a volunteer initiative led by TLR,&quot; Gutierrez said in a text message. </p><p>Robredo and Gutierrez posted the website in their respective social media pages to thank the volunteers but the vice president is not directly involved in the crowdfunding, the spokesman said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/12/05/16/p334m-from-only-13-donors-funded-dutertes-presidency">P334M from only 13 donors funded Duterte&#x27;s presidency</a></li></ul><p>Election lawyer Emil Marañon in a previous interview said crowdfunding candidates is a way of levelling the playing field in elections, which is traditionally bankrolled by political parties, tycoons, and other wealthy contributors. </p><p>As of Thursday night, the TLR crowdfunding page has been modified and now contains a disclaimer saying donations will not be directly remitted to either the OVP or Robredo.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Following ABS-CBN News’ questions to Robredo camp, the TLR crowdfunding page has been modified &amp; now contains disclaimer saying &quot;donations will not be remitted&quot; to OVP or Robredo.<br/><br/>Another update: Supporters can only donate via local fintechs GCash &amp; PayMaya. <a href="https://t.co/WIPjwuln8E">pic.twitter.com/WIPjwuln8E</a></p>— J.E. Villaruel (@jauhnetienne) <a href="https://twitter.com/jauhnetienne/status/1448600011248340996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Supporters can now only donate via local fintech providers GCash and PayMaya.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4X3Sd1ydYT0?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Foreigners cannot donate to the campaign of any Filipino candidate, a commissioner of the Comelec on Wednesday said, following the launch of a volunteer-run website that seeks to fund Vice President Leni Robredo's presidential run.

Foreigners can't donate, Comelec warns amid online fundraising for Leni's 2022 bid | ABS-CBN

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Foreigners can't donate, Comelec warns amid online fundraising for Leni's 2022 bid

Foreigners can't donate, Comelec warns amid online fundraising for Leni's 2022 bid

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 14, 2021 06:29 PM PHT

|

Updated Oct 15, 2021 01:12 AM PHT

Read More:

Comelec

Commission on Elections

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