Senate big spenders listed

The office of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III spent more than P127.8 million, or about P350,000 a day, when he was still Senate President in 2017, according to a report by the Commission on Audit (COA).

The COA on Tuesday published records of expenses in 2017 of every senator and members of the House of Representatives.

The report, submitted by COA supervising auditor Olympia Balugay, showed that Pimentel’s office paid P15.7 million in consultancy fees during the period.

Sought for comment, Pimentel said the amount of his expenses was “expected” since he was still then head of the 24-member chamber.

“The Senate President is allocated a higher budget because as the head of agency, he also has many additional responsibilities and functions,” Pimentel said in a text message to the Inquirer.

The COA report also showed that the office of opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a fierce critic of President Duterte, was the second most expensive in the Senate in 2017, incurring expenses of P87 million.

Like Pimentel, Trillanes also paid P15.7 million for his consultants.