MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has upheld its decision to file an election offense case against Marilou Veloso Galenzoga-Baligod, the wife of lawyer Levito Baligod, over alleged campaign overspending during the 2019 elections.
In a document shared with the media on Wednesday, the seven-member en banc approved on April 28, 2026 the recommendation of the poll body’s law department to deny Marilou’s motion for reconsideration dated October 4, 2025 and affirm the decision to file a case against her.
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On April 24, 2024, the en banc first ruled for the filing of information against her for the violation of Section 100 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), as amended by Section 13 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7166, in relation to Section 262 of OEC.
According to the law department, it found that the respondent failed to justify that the en banc’s resolution lacks evidentiary support or that it was contrary to the law.
“In her Motion, Respondent-Movant claims that the alleged excess expenditure was due to oversight and inadvertence on the part of her accountant who prepared the SOCE [statement of contributions and expenditures]. She also asserts that certain receipts attached to the SOCE should not have been included therein, as these were illegible or unreadable, were not registered under her name, were not incurred by the Respondent or her authorized representative and did not redound to her benefit for purposes of campaigning during,” the document read.
Marilou ran for the congressional seat in Baybay City, Leyte, but lost to Carl Cari with a margin of over 16,000 votes.
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The RA No. 7166 mandates all election candidates to submit their SOCEs within 30 days after the day of the elections. The candidates must also certify under oath that the submission contains true and full information on their contributions and expenditures.
The law department said that the respondent voluntarily submitted her SOCE, emphasizing that “[t]he fact that Respondent-Movant certified under oath and voluntarily submitted her SOCE, including its supporting documents, presuppose due diligence on her part in confirming the truthfulness and accuracy of the declarations therein.”
Meanwhile, Levito in a Facebook post slammed the Comelec’s decision, saying: “Bumanat na rin ang COMELEC ni George Garcia, election offense (overspending) against my wife in the [2019] elections. Sige lang.”
In a statement, Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia responded: “I will not dignify the insinuation with a comment. But just please see the important dates.”
Garcia earlier denied the allegations of alleged former 18 marines that he received money from former lawmaker Zaldy Co. Levito is the legal counsel of the 18 supposed former soldiers. /cb
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