Jack Enrile biggest spender so far based on submitted expenditure reports

(Updated 7:32 p.m.) Defeated senatorial candidate Jack Enrile is emerging as the biggest spender in the May 13 elections based on the statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs) received by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of Thursday afternoon.

Based on his SOCE, Enrile, who ran under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), spent P150,401,072.09 in his campaign and received P150,797,910.18 in total campaign contributions.

Candidates and political parties have until 5 p.m. Thursday to submit their respective SOCEs, a requirement under the law.

So far, only the UNA coalition has submitted its SOCE among the political parties, showing P72,361,396.44 expenditures and P72,750,025 received contributions.

Among UNA's prominent contributor was William Gatchalian, known as the "plastic king" for his various businesses in the local plastic industry. He contributed to UNA's campaign kitty P20,000,000 worth of cash, or 27 percent of the contributions received by the coalition.

Gatchalian is also the patriarch of the Gatchalian political family in Valenzuela City. His sons Sherwin, Rex and Weslie are mayor, congressman and incoming Alay Buhay party-list representative, respectively.

Meanwhile, senatorial frontrunner Grace Poe's mother and her late father's company were the biggest contributors to her campaign.

According to Poe's SOCE, her mother, actress Susan Roces (real name Jesusa Poe), contributed P17,390, 271.71 in cash to her campaign, or about 14 percent of the P123,605,341.27 total campaign contributions she received.

Poe is the adopted daughter of Roces and the late film star Fernando Poe Jr., more popularly known as FPJ.

The FPJ Productions, meanwhile, contributed P12,701,955.56 worth of cash and kind — or 10 percent — to Grace Poe's campaign kitty. Her total expenses were at P123,448,994.86.             

Other winning senators who have so far submitted their SOCEs were political neophytes Nancy Binay and Bam Aquino.

Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, received a total of  P136,869,398.78 in campaign contributions while her expenses were at P128,695,057.10.

On the other hand, Aquino's expenses totaled P124,327,987.81 while his total contributions received were P125,493,000.00. His prominent donors were his relatives - his father Paul Aquino, the youngest brother of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., donated  P10.258 million, while his uncle, former senator Agapito "Butz" Aquino, contributed P10 million.

Defeated candidates Ramon Montaño, an independent candidate, and Christian Señeres of the Democratic Party of the Philippines have also submitted their SOCEs.

Montaño's expenses totaled P1.383 million with P6,629,175.00 contributions received. Señeres, on the other hand, spent P338,205.24 with no contributions received.  

Meanwhile, defeated candidate Jun Magsaysay, son of former President Ramon Magsaysay, spent P67,155,705.79 for the elections. His received P51,084,000 in contributions.
      
Remaining contributions

Meanwhile, the Comelec plans to put a cap on contributions since these could be used as an income-generating scheme every elections, Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said.

Among the senators who filed so far, Binay has the largest remainder in contributions -- at P8.174 million, after deducting her total contributions from total expenses.

Enrile has remaining contributions valued at over P396,000, Poe at over P156,000, Aquino at P1.165 million, and Montaño at P5.246 million.

Law on SOCE

According to Republic Act 7166, every candidate and treasurer of a political party shall be required to file an itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures within 30 days after Election Day.
 
Failure to submit SOCEs is penalized with an administrative fine from P2,000 to P30,000 for the first offense, and from P2,000 to P60,000 for second offense, depending on the position, according to Comelec Resolution No. 9476.
 
While it is not a criminal act, failure to file SOCEs can be penalized with disqualification from holding public office, the law said. — KBK, GMA News