IT may have been a problem that partly enabled the massive corruption in infrastructure projects: Exceptions from the public works ban that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) had granted by the tens of thousands during the campaign period in the 2022 and 2025 national and local elections.
By all indications, many politicians have conspired with many contractors to fleece public works contracts for campaign finance money, with assistance from public works and other agencies. This is according to some contractors themselves who say that during the election period, some politicians solicit or compel campaign fund donations from them through contracts that have been given mere Notices of Award (NOA), often in bulk within weeks or days before the effectivity of the ban.
This is a discernible truth: The greed for power of some politicians, mostly re-electionists and political dynasts, has morphed into greed for public funds so they could remain in power on and on. They raid and capture control of public works and social amelioration monies, practically barring the entry of new and young candidates in many areas. Abuse of state resources in elections has largely led to failed and corrupt governance, and now, public distrust in the integrity of most public agencies.
To be sure, under the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881), the COMELEC has no discretionary powers to deny outright requests for exception from the ban on release of public funds for infrastructure projects during the campaign period. However, the law also requires validation and documentation of the applications, and this is where the COMELEC might do well to tighten its processes and rules.
According to lawyers of COMELEC’s Political Finance and Affairs Department or PFAD, “as a general rule, there is a presumption of regularity” in its evaluation of applications, depending on the project category or classification, and the submission of at least one critical document out of several required.
For instance, for projects that have to undergo competitive bidding, the NOA or Notice to Proceed (NTP) is required. For completed work, the acceptance letter of the procuring entity will do. For projects to be undertaken by the agency itself such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), an application signed by the head of agency for one or more projects would be enough, even if such enrolls only “project names”.
An email sent to the COMELEC is deemed to be a proper application. Submission in person or by physical mail is not required. But because of staff and time constraints, COMELEC’s PFAD and other personnel in charge of reviewing the applications had not done field validation, or even cross-referencing of the applications, with other government agencies.
Applications may be submitted earlier but COMELEC’s enforcement of the ban actually covers only the 45-day campaign period for regular elections, 30 days for special elections, and 10 days for barangay/sangguniang kabataan elections.
The public works projects that may be applied for exception from the ban include, according to PFAD, the maintenance of existing infrastructure, contracts already negotiated or with Notice to Proceed, repair and emergency work on public facilities damaged by disaster or natural calamities.
As a rule, according to PFAD lawyers, the applicants must submit a cover letter, notice from the agency head or authorized representative, a sworn statement of the undertaking, a “project compliance checklist,” and other supporting documents — all in pdf or excel format. One lawyer said, though: “We put in a caveat in the certification of exception: in case of falsification of information or documents, the applicant will be liable for criminal offense, election offense, and the certificate of exception will be invalidated.”
Unlike in the 2022 elections, in 2025, the applicants were also directed to submit their documents on the COMELEC dashboard.
Opposition to the applications may be filed within three days from grant of exception, for a fee of PhP10,100, with the Clerk of the Commission. Motions for reconsideration of denied applications may be filed within five days, for a fee of PhP1,000, also with the Clerk of the Commission.
Research and data analysis by the Right to Know Right Now Coalition (R2KRN) on the public works ban exceptions that COMELEC granted in the 2022 and 2025 national and local elections (NLE) offer a good road map into how and why the corruption in public works projects may have roots as well in elections marked by inefficiency, porous laws, and discreet deal-making by some candidates, contractors, and public works and other agencies.
Read full report here: Comelec ok’d flood of public works ban exception in 2022, 2025 elections