The Philippine Online Chronicles

President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III spent P403 million during the elections campaign that spanned from February 9 to May 8 this year.

All of Aquino's expenditures came from donors, mostly businessmen allied with the Aquino family, as well as Aquino's relatives. The total amount of donations Aquino received was P440.5 million, as reflected in the expenditure report he submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The document was made available by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on its website.

Aquino's biggest donor was cousin Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, who donated P100 million. Cojuangco is the former owner of the Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications (PLDT) and the Associated Broadcasting Company, now known as TV5. The said companies are now owned by Manny Pangilinan.

Businessman Chiong Bu Hong, food mogul Martin Ignacio Lorenzo (owner of Pancake House, Dencio's Grill, Teriyaki Boy, and Le Coeur de France), and former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran were the second biggest donors, contributing P20 million each.

Aquino's sisters Kris Aquino-Yap, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, and Ballsy Aquino-Cruz likewise shelled out P15 million, P5 million, and P3 million, respectively.

GMANews.tv reported that out of Aquino's campaign kitty, P179 million came from businessmen while P143 million came from relatives.

Aquino ranks 18th among senators in the 14th Congress based on declared personal wealth. In his 2009 statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), Aquino's wealth is at P15.44 million.

Other candidates

Meanwhile, losing presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar was the biggest spending presidentiable as of posting time, spending P431.55 million.

In contrast with Aquino, all of Villar's expenses came from his own money. Villar placed third in the May 10 elections with five million votes—10 million votes less than Aquino's.

Administration presidentiable Gilberto Teodoro and independent candidate Jamby Madrigal spent P64 million and P55 million, respectively.

In the vice-presidential race, Aquino's running-mate and losing candidate Mar Roxas was the top spender with P280 million. Villar's running-mate Loren Legarda was a close second with P210 million; Bayani Fernando, P80 million; and Perfecto Yasay, P1.9 million.

The campaign expenses of Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay has not been reported as of posting time.

Among the senatorial candidates, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is reported to have the biggest campaign expense with P93 million. The top two winning senators—Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada—spent P77 million and P69 million, respectively.

'Ridiculous'

According to Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, he thinks that some expenditure reports submitted by national candidates are “far less than... what you saw.”

“So far, the declarations of some candidates in their campaign expenditure filings were outright questionable or even ridiculous in some cases,” Jimenez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

However, Jimenez did not name the candidates who submitted such reports.

“Again these are surface impressions. It would be unfair to point them out to specify who made these assertions. But in general, there are some assertions that are a little fantastic,” Jimenez said on the Manila Standard.

Weak law?

Comelec Resolution 8944 allows national candidates to spend P10 per registered voter—a total of P510 million.

Jimenez said that the said resolution is weak since it does not required to submit a campaign expenditure report, unlike in previous elections.

“The law has been defanged. In previous elections, if you failed to submit an expenditure report, you could not assume office. But now, that provision is not in the law anymore,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez added that a candidate being “beholden” to campaign contributions from businessmen is a “moral issue” for the candidate.

Electoral advocacy group Pera at Politika (Money and Politics) also said that the resolution does not specify a cap on campaign contributions.