Bets file SOCE; Poe biggest poll spender

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Grace Poe, who ran as an independent in the May 9 elections, was the biggest spender among five presidential bets, incurring campaign expenses amounting to P510,845,262.56.

Based on the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) she submitted yesterday, Poe was able to pay for her expenditures through P511,950,000 her campaign received in cash contributions. She did not declare any contribution in kind.

On the other hand, incoming president Rodrigo Duterte spent a total of P371,461,480.23 and received P375,009,474 in campaign contributions, his SOCE showed yesterday.

Based on his SOCE, most of Duterte’s contributors came from Davao City, including former Davao del Norte congressman Antonio Floirendo Jr. who donated P75 million. 

Other contributors were Tomas Alcantara, named by Forbes magazine as 37th among the Philippines’ 50 Richest, who gave P12 million; Nicasio Alcantara, president of Alcantara Group of Companies, P16 million; Lorenzo Te, general manager of Honda Cars Davao, P30 million;

Samuel Uy of Davao Farm and Davao Imports Distributors Inc., P30 million; Bienvenido Tan of Makati City, P20 million; Dennis Uy of Davao City-based Phoenix Petroleum, P30 million; Domingo Tao Uy of Davao City, P5 million; and Marcelino Mendoza of Las Piñas City, P14.5 million.

Duterte’s runningmate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also donated more than P61 million in “tandem ads” while losing senatorial bet Francis Tolentino gave P3 million and anti-crime advocate Dante Jimenez contributed P30,000.

The Davao City mayor declared that P200,000 of his expenditures were paid out of his personal funds, while P294,555,797.33 of the expenses were paid out of “cash contributions” and P76,705,682.90 were expenses paid through in-kind contributions.

His SOCE showed that P298,303,792 of the contributions came in cash while P76,705,682.90 were in kind. 

Vice President Jejomar Binay’s SOCE showed that he received P463,453,000 in cash contributions and spent P463,375,216.37.

Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas failed to file his SOCE despite the extension of the deadline given by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. yesterday.

Under Comelec Resolution 9991, first time violators of the requirement to file SOCE faces a fine of P10,000 to P30,000, depending on the position he or she sought during the elections. 

Second time offenders face perpetual disqualification from public office, either appointive or elective.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago declared contributions and expenditures of P74,652,689.87.

Among vice presidential bets, Rep. Leni Robredo reported campaign expenditures of P418,664,130.60, making her the biggest spender.

Of the amount, P401,606,643.45 was paid out of cash contributions while P17,057,487.15 was incurred using in-kind contributions. 

Robredo said she did not shell out personal resources for the campaign.

She, however, declared receiving a total of P423,163,737.34 in campaign contributions. Of this amount, P406,106,250.19 were cash contributions while P192,338.83 were in kind.  

The Liberal Party donated P16,865,148.32 in kind but contributed no cash. 

Sen. Francis Escudero was the second biggest spender. He reported spending P321,014,827.64 and receiving campaign donations of P322,567,073.60.

He was followed by Cayetano with expenditures of P189,129,872.48 and contributions of P188,930,000. 

Based on his SOCE, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. received contributions of P130,707,735 and spent P140,539,366.34.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he received P61,159,497.87 and spent P61,896,067.36.

Sen. Gringo Honasan got contributions of P25,963,450 and spent P26,259,899.20.

Among those who ran for senator, Joel Villanueva spent the most with P163,787,074.02, followed by Sherwin Gatchalian at P157,077,338.62; and Ralph Recto at P131,867,403.89; Richard Gordon, P119,420,789.92; Panfilo Lacson, P87,935,535.91; Migz Zubiri, P86,415,261.55; Leila de Lima, P86,153,300.49; Manny Pacquiao, P66,428,468.88, and Vicente Sotto III, P34,781,663.44.