SUDDENLY this rear-view of the last presidential election has popped up: Mar Roxas from Wharton offered to run this country as president, but here he is now unable to do the simple task of keeping track of his campaign spending.

Among the presidential candidates, only Roxas – the Liberal Party standard bearer — failed to submit to the Commission on Elections the required Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE) even after the 5 p.m. deadline last Wednesday was extended to 6:30 p.m.

Documenting the flow of campaign funds under the 30-year-old Omnibus Election Code is a chore every candidate, especially one running for president, is supposed to know. There is no excuse for the top bet of a well-oiled machine not being able to file a SOCE on time.

Based on the number of registered voters, the Comelec has set the campaign-spending limit for the May 9 polls at P557,399,110 per candidate for president and for vice president.

Any candidate – winner or loser, local or national — who fails to submit his SOCE faces possible fines. Committing the same violation again would mean disqualification from ever holding any elective or appointive public office.

Under Section 111 of Article XI of the election code (Batas Pambansa Bilang 881), even if a winner files his SOCE, he would still not be allowed to “enter upon the duties of his office” if his party fails to submit its separate SOCE.

Since the LP has failed to submit its SOCE, even the oath-taking of Vice President-elect Leni Robredo is now under question. Senators-elect of the LP (Franklin Drilon, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, Ralph Recto and Leila de Lima) are in the same situation.

• Not Leni’s fault LP failed to file SOCE

OUR LAYMAN’S view is that since Robredo already complied with the SOCE requirement, her party’s failure to file its separate SOCE should not be taken against her to the point of nullifying her mandate given directly by the electorate. She has no control over the party.

Roxas and the LP have asked the Comelec for a two-week extension of the “final and non-extendable” June 8 deadline, or 30 days after the last election.

The Comelec has the discretion to extend the deadline, but since other candidates and political parties have dutifully filed their SOCEs on time, extending it for Roxas and the LP smacks of favoritism.

The same argument of “grave abuse of discretion” used successfully against the poll body in the Grace Poe disqualification cases could be thrown against it.

Comelec Director James Jimenez said that all relevant factors will be considered in weighing the LP/Roxas petition. He explained: “We have to see also if the same conditions apply to other candidates… one question is if the other candidates managed, why can’t you?”

Election lawyer Romy Macalintal opined: “Vice President-elect Leni Robredo can still assume office since she had already filed her own SOCE.  The will of the people cannot be set aside on mere misdoing or omission of the party that nominated a winning candidate.

“The provision of Section 14 of RA 7166 (that failure of the party that nominated the winning candidate to file the SOCE could prohibit him from assuming office) is of doubtful constitutionality. It violates the bill of rights provision that no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty or property without due process of law or without having been heard.

“The failure of the LP and former Secretary Roxas to file their SOCE on time is a simple case of late-filing and not considered as ‘non-filing’.”

• Why the widespread ‘endo’ hiring?

MORE and more people have gotten used to the practice of “endo” (end of contract) or the contractualization of labor, but its being assailed days ago by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte reopened the issue when he said in a press briefing:

“I don’t care if you (employers) will get angry with me, but I am not open to a compromise. Contractualization must go. It is anti-people. I’ll call the Speaker and the Senate President. I’ll tell them you pass this bill immediately. I need this during the first week of my administration.”

Some readers explained why “endo” as discussed in last Thursday’s Postscript has become widespread. One reader, Evelyn Esguerra, said on the basis of her experience as an SME owner during 2000-2010:

“One of the reasons is that we have an aggressive labor sector. As an executive, I saw how unions and leftists took advantage of the system that led to strikes and closures of companies. Unfortunately, ourkababayans complain more, demand more and work less. If you ask any SME company, most likely you get response on how the Filipino worker performs.

“One factor going against us is high wages, compared to other ASEAN countries, which makes us less competitive to foreign investors.  Our edge of having communication skills is slowly being eradicated with the continuous improvement of the language skills of our ASEAN neighbors. Add to that the high taxes, poor infrastructure and other negatives.

“Last year an article came out in PhilSTAR on how OISHI, a Filipino-based company, put up shop in China. Why did not the owner do it here? It is because of the ease of doing business in other countries, plus the friendly labor force? Note that a lot are also doing importation nowadays, it is cheaper to import than have goods manufactured here.

“I pity the contractuals as they worry about where they will be after five months. But have they also thought about the owner’s side, about how it is also hard to retrain, re-educate new workers? Both sides are on the losing end. I suggest that instead of contracts workers be given or rehired based on performance with dues like 13th pay, overtime and other benefits.

“We have many unemployed and underemployed, because of our economy. Do we have enough businesses, do we have enough manufacturing plants? Why do small countries like Taiwan and Singapore with meager resources became industrial, manufacturing and tech hubs? This is because their government is pro-business. The more businesses, the more people will be employed. Unfortunately, our politicians taking the cue of the masa are pro-labor.”