MANILA, Philippines – It’s a gamble to run for senator. Unfortunately, the candidate who had the most at stake, based on his statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE), failed to make it to the Senate.

Jack Enrile, who lost, outspent all other candidates in the midterm elections. The 15th placer in the senatorial race, Enrile spent P150,401,072.09, according to the SOCE he submitted last Wednesday, June 12.

Enrile got all this money from contributions, which totaled P150,797,910.18 – the biggest that a senatorial candidate got. In his SOCE, he said he didn’t shell out a single centavo from personal funds.

This means the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) bet saved P396,838.18.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue classifies unused campaign contributions as a candidate’s income, and therefore subjects this to tax.

In running for the Senate, Enrile’s capital came not only from P150.7 million in contributions, but from his father and namesake, who was Senate President when he ran. His father, Sen Juan Ponce Enrile, said critics used a fund controversy to derail his son’s candidacy.

Winning spenders

The next biggest spender is a winner. UNA’s JV Ejercito spent P138,207,825.76, according to his SOCE.

The top 12 biggest spenders were:

1. Enrile, Jack – P150,401,072.09

2. Ejercito Estrada, JV – P138,207,825.76

3. Villar, Cynthia – P133,979,127.25

4. Cayetano, Alan Peter – P131,044,782.33

5. Binay, Nancy – P128,695,057.10

6. Aquino, Bam- P124,327,987.81

7. Poe, Grace – P123,448,994.86

8. Angara, Sonny – P120,136,752.86

9. Escudero, Chiz – P100,723,309.10

10. Hontiveros, Risa – P88,628,348.11

11. Legarda, Loren – P83,034,205.00

12. Pimentel, Koko – P75,552,863.49

Important disclosure

The SOCE is meant to disclose how much contributions a candidate got, and how much he or she spent, and if the amounts comply with campaign spending cap prescribed in the election law, which election players say is outdated.

Republic Act 7166, or the Synchronized National and Local Elections Law, allows presidential and vice presidential candidates to spend up to P10 per voter. It allows their political parties to spend P5 per voter.

The law allows other candidates to spend P3 per voter. In addition to this, the political party in the candidate’s constituency may spend up to P5 per voter. Independent bets may spend P5 per voter.

The SOCE also shows who contributed to a candidate’s campaign, which the Bureau of Internal Revenue initially planned to use as guide on which contributors should be checked for inconsistencies in tax declarations. – Rappler.com