Poll topnotcher Villar spends P135.5 M for senatorial campaign

MANILA, Philippines—Election topnotcher Sen. Cynthia Villar spent P135.5 million for her senatorial bid, according to her Statement of Contributions and Expenditures.

 The Commission on Elections Campaign Finance Office released the documents on Thursday.

The reelectionist senator put zero under the contributions received category of her SOCE. She said she did not receive any cash or in-kind contributions from other sources and political parties.

Villar ran under the Nacionalista Party and under the coalition of administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago. She led the senatorial race with more than 25 million votes.

She was recently named the richest in the Senate for the fifth year in a row, with a net worth of P3.719 billion.

Former Senate President Manny Villar, the senator's husband and president of the NP, ranked 317th on Forbes’ list of richest billionaires in 2019 with a net worth of US $5.5 billion. He is also the country's richest man.

Aside from Villar, Sens. Nancy Binay and Grace Poe and Senators-elect Pia Cayetano and Christopher Goreportedly filed their SOCE on Thursday, the last day for filing. SOCE must be personally filed before the Comelec.

Here’s a breakdown of their SOCEs:

• Binay – P59.47 million – contributions received; N/A– expenses paid out of personal funds or resources; P56.785 million – total expenditures incurred

• Cayetano – P75.20 million – total contributions received; P659,188.39 – expenses paid out of personal funds or resources; P73.714 million – total expenditures incurred

• Go – P162 million – contributions received; P415,500 – expenses paid out of personal funds or resources; P161.418 million – total expenditures incurred

• Poe – P156.45 million – contributions received; N/A – expenses paid out of personal funds or resources; P156.433 million – total expenditures incurred

READ: File SOCE on time, 2019 election bets told

All candidates are required to file their SOCE even if they were not elected.

Reports said only 34 of the 62 senatorial candidates and 102 of the 134 party-lists had submitted their SOCE as of 7 p.m.

Failure to comply with the hiring requirement “may result to the imposition of administrative sanctions against candidates and electoral parties” under Republic Act 7166 or the Synchronized Elections Law. —Rosette Adel