Trillanes to COA: Check other senators’ expenses

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV urged yesterday the Commission on Audit (COA) to check how other senators used their funds in the oversight committees following reports that he was the top spender of Senate funds in 2011.

Trillanes said he should not be adjudged as the biggest spender at the Senate because he has been using his funds judiciously.

He justified his expenses of P16.76 million on personnel services, saying he has reached the quota on the number of employees with 40 staff members. 

“It is not a crime, it is not illegal to employ the right number of employees that we are allowed to employ,” he added.

Trillanes called a news conference at the Senate yesterday to explain that other senators even got higher allocations because they hold oversight committees, which have higher budgets.

“In my oversight (Procurement), I have P10 million, so compared to others, that’s a P30 million difference,” Trillanes said.

But Sen. Edgardo Angara rebuffed Trillanes, saying the congressional oversight committees were created by laws and that the funds were shared both by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“Since it was provided by law, the budget is determined by what is prescribed in the law, and then put into the annual budget,” explained Angara, who chairs that congressional oversight commission on science and technology that is getting P36 million in the 2013 budget.

A COA official met yesterday with the finance and budget officers of each senator to map out guidelines on how to liquidate Senate funds, including the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

Mario Lipana, resident auditor of the Senate, said he met with the Senate finance officers following orders by COA chairman Grace Pulido-Tan to implement full liquidation of Senate funds instead of mere certification.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed with the COA chief’s move not to allow the use of certification on liquidation on Senate funds in 2013. This puts to naught Concurrent Resolution No. 10 that allows liquidation by use of certification, a long time practice followed by lawmakers until state auditors called the Senate’s attention to it in 2010.

Lipana said the official COA report on the itemized expenses of the Senate would be published in newspapers of general circulation within the week.

He also validated the news reports that Trillanes topped the list with most expenses for 2011, with P27.62 million spent by his office and P27.34 million for his committees, for a total of P54.96 million.

After Trillanes, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada was second with P52.7 million that included P25.2 million in office expenses and P27.5 million for his committee chairmanships.

Estrada said he has nothing to hide about his expenses, saying he can liquidate them properly.  

“So being on the top list, sometimes it is a misnomer. It does not mean you are wasting people’s money. You give it back through the public services,” Estrada said.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. came in third with P49.82 million that included P22.88 million in office expenses and P26.94 million for committee expenses.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was fourth highest spender with P49.2 million including P24.6 million for office expenses and P24.6 million for committee expenses.

Marcos was number 20 in the list of spenders when he entered office in 2010.

In fifth spot is Sen. Francis Escudero with P48.6 million including P22.4-million office expenses and P26.2 million for committees.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan had total expenses of P47.1 million that included P21 million office expenses and P26.21 million on committees.

Next is Sen. Francis Pangilinan at 7th with 46.87 million including P25.2 million for office expenses and P21.66 million spent on committees.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III spent P46 million with P21 million office expenses and P25 million for committees.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s expenses were at P46.58 million with P22.8 million used for his office and P23.78 million for committees.