Roxas’ mom lost P110M in his poll bid

Mar Roxas is flanked by wife Korina Sanchez and mother Judy Araneta Roxas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Mommy is poorer by P110 million. But she has a chance of recovering her losses, that is, if she plays the lotto.

How did Judy Araneta-Roxas lose P110 million? By bankrolling her son’s presidential ambition.

Unfortunately, her son, Mar Roxas, the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) in May’s presidential election, is not cut to become president of the Philippines.

The graduate of Wharton College spent P487 million on his campaign for Malacañang only to be trounced by a graduate of San Beda College, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, at the polls. And at lesser expense.

His statement of contributions and expenditures (Soce), finally submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday, showed his mom was the biggest contributor to his campaign, giving him P90 million at the start of the campaign in February and P20 million as the race for the Palace went into the homestretch in May.

Once secretary of transportation and communications and head of the interior department, he is now private citizen Mar Roxas.

His last official act as presidential candidate was submitting his Soce to the Comelec on the last day of a 14-day grace period given to him and the LP after they failed to meet the deadline on June 8.

Roxas’ report showed that of the P487 million he poured on his failed run for Malacañang, P469.29 million were cash and in-kind donations and P18 million came from his own pocket.

The report showed that Roxas was the second-biggest campaign spender, after Sen. Grace Poe, who reported spending P510.84 million.

The winner, Duterte, reported spending P371 million.

The bulk of the cash contributions to Roxas’ campaign came from the Araneta and Fores clan, with his mom as the top donor.

Roxas’ uncle, Jorge Araneta, donated P70 million; aunt Maria Fores, P60 million; another aunt, Ruby Roxas, P10 million; cousin Jorge Fores, P10 million; sister Maria Lourdes Ojeda, P10 million; his restaurateur cousin Margarita Fores, P7 million, and uncle Manuel Roxas, P5 million.

Mining magnate Francis Enrico Gutierrez donated P40 million to Roxas’ campaign, and real estate executive Melesa Dy Chua gave him P10 million.

The other donors were former Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., who gave P5 million; former Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, P5 million; and Karina David, who played a role in the campaign, P1 million.

The LP’s Alfonso Umali Jr. contributed P72.39 million in television ads, according to Roxas’ report.

In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, Gutierrez said the contributions made by Roxas’ relatives were “not surprising,” as they came from a well-established family, running multiple businesses for decades.

A large part of Roxas’ expenditures, P407 million, or 87 percent, went to campaign ads, mostly on television, said Gutierrez, who filed the Soce on behalf of Roxas.

50 boxes of documents

Gutierrez carried Roxas’ report, supported by voluminous documents placed in 50 boxes and transported in an Elf pickup, to the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

He said Roxas’ camp had tried to meet the June 8 deadline, but decided to ask for an extension to make sure his report would be “accurate and truthful.”

“Every cent that was spent per [rally], per campaign event, every action made during the elections we submitted to the Comelec,” he said.

“We have scanned and disclosed everything down to the last receipt in keeping with the spirit of the law for full transparency,” he said. “Based on our experience, if you break down all of our expenses, it was really going to take 50 boxes of documents.”

Extension controversy

Voting 4-3 last week, the Comelec granted Roxas’ and the LP request for a two-week extension of the deadline. Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim voted to deny the request, as the law prohibits extending the deadline, and resigned as head of the Comelec’s campaign finance office.

On Wednesday, incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez urged the Comelec to release its resolution granting the extension so that interested parties could question its legality in the Supreme Court.

The party of Alvarez, PDP-Laban, earlier indicated its intention to ask the Supreme Court to strike down the Comelec resolution.

“Right or wrong, there seems to be a public perception that the release of the resolution is being held in abeyance until after the sought-for 14-day extension lapses so it may no longer be questioned [in the Supreme Court],” Alvarez said in a statement.

“If this is true, the Comelec may end up as a damaged institution, as it will be a party to two very serious violations—extending a nonextendible deadline in the filing of Soces and depriving the people of the right to question that extension [in the Supreme Court],” he said. With a report from DJ Yap