By Mario Casayuran

Senator Imee Marcos formally asked the Senate Wednesday to increase the authorized expenses of candidates, including candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, and political parties in the country’s elections.

Marcos made the call after delivering a sponsorship speech about the report of her Senate electoral reform and people’s participation committee on Senate Bill No. 810 that tackles the issue of increasing campaign spending.

The bill seeks to increase the authorized expenses of candidates and political parties, amending for the purpose section 13 of Republic Act No. 7166, entitled “An Act providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms.’’

It states that the amount a political party may spend in an election campaign shall be as follows:

For President and Vice-President, P10 for every voter;

For other candidates, an increase from P3 to P20 for every voter currently registered in the constituency where the candidate filed his certificate of candidacy, provided, that a candidate without a political party and without support from any political party may be allowed to spend P5 for every such voter.

For political parties, the authorized expense of P5 shall be increased to P20 for every voter currently registered in the constituency or constituencies where it has official candidates.

“Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any contribution in cash or in kind to any candidate or political party or coalition of parties for campaign purposes, duly reported to the Commission, shall not be subject to the payment of any donor’s tax,” the bill also states.

Debate on the bill was rescheduled by Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to give senators time to study the measure.