Senator-elect Nancy Binay. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Senator-elect Nancy Binay was able to save more than P8 million from the campaign contributions she received for the midterm elections.
In the statement of election contributions and expenditures (SOCE) that Binay filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), she declared that she received P136,869,398.78 in contributions but spent only P128,695,057.10.
Independent candidate Ramon Montaño also saved more than P5 million in funds as he only spent around P1.3 million. Based on his SOCE, he received a total of P6,629,175 in campaign contributions.
Team PNoy candidate Paolo Benigno Aquino “Bam” Aquino also saved over P1.1 million in campaign funds. He declared that he received P125,493,000.00 donation but spent P124,327,987.81 during the campaign.
Among those who spent a big amount of money during the campaign are former Sen. Jamby Madrigal, who reported that she spent over P39 million but received no donations; Ricardo Penson, who shelled out over P19 million; and Cynthia Villar, who spent almost P134 million but only received P2.6 million in campaign funds.
As of press time, only 15 SOCEs out of the 30 submitted to the Comelec were released to the media.
Taxable
In an interview, Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes said the candidates who managed to save some money from their campaign contributions can “keep the money but that is subjected to tax.”
“If they don’t return it to the donor, that is considered part of their income… If they keep it, then that has to be reported as income,” he explained.
Other highlights of SOCEs of candidates:
Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile—Received P150.7M; spent P150.4M.
Cynthia Villar—Received P2.6M; spent P133.9M.
Alan Peter Cayetano— Received P130.4M; spent P131M.
Grace Poe—Received P123.6M; spent P123.4M.
Ramon Magsaysay—Received P51M; spent P67.1M.
Ernesto Maceda—Received P6.2M; spent P30.8M.
Antonio Trillanes—Received P29.5; spent P30.1M.
Samson Alcantara—Received 0; spent P344,459
Christian Seneres—Received 0; spent P338,205.
John Carlos “JC” Delos Reyes—Received P20,000; spent 0.