Trillanes says COA report 'partial and misleading'

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday said that the Commission on Audit's (COA) report on the senators' 2011 spending is "partial and misleading."

Trillantes said the COA report should have included oversight committee expenses to show the public that he is among those with the smallest expenditure.

The COA report said that Trillanes' office spent P54.96 million in 2011.

"Unlike other senators handling multiple oversight committees, I handle only the Senate Select Oversight Committee on Government Procurement. This is not shown in the released COA report," Trillanes said in a statement.

He added that the report failed to include the Senate members' realigned Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) from unfilled plantilla positions and the controversial additional funds from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile's office.

"If we are going to factor this in, it will show that I am also among those with the smallest expenditure," Trillanes, who hopes to be reelected to the Senate this year, said.

The senator also justified his office's expenses which amounted to P27.62 million covering his staff's salaries and benefits, capital outlay and maintenance expenses.

"Based on the figures shown in the yearly COA reports, most of my expenditures are categorized under the office expenses, which is due to the fact that I have the most number of employees. It is based on the quota given to my office and I simply filled it up," he said, adding that such expenses are within the limit set by law.

The former Navy lieutenant also criticized news reports citing him as the top spender and urged media practitioners to release the full audit report.