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MANILA, Philippines – President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spent a total of P623.23 million on his successful bid for the presidency, according to his statement of contribution and expenditures (SOCE) filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, June 7.

His SOCE indicated “P0” opposite the line “expenditures paid out of personal funds/resources,” which means that according to the president-elect, no money came out of his own pocket to fund his Malacañang aspirations.

A total of P371.795 million in expenditures was paid out of cash contributions, while another P251.434 million was incurred using in-kind contributions.

In total, the president-elect received contributions worth P624.684 million.

His P623-million expenditure is just below the P674-million cap that presidential aspirants can utilize to woo voters during the campaign period.

The number is generated when the total number of registered voters, which is 67.4 million, is multiplied by P10 – the aggregate amount a presidential candidate may spend for every voter, according to the Fair Election Act.

Marcos Jr. filed his SOCE a day before the June 8 deadline. Aside from him, his defeated rivals – Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Ping Lacson, and cardiologist Jose Montemayor – have also filed their SOCEs with the Comelec as of Tuesday.

The president-elect’s political party, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), filed its SOCE on Tuesday, June 6. PFP’s press release said it spent P272 million on Marcos Jr.’s Malacañang bid, which is also below the P337-million cap for political parties.

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The filing of SOCEs only covers expenses during the campaign period, as aspirants for elective posts were not yet considered “candidates” before February 8.

From January 2021 to March 2022, Marcos and his closest rival, outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, topped ad spending on mainstream media among presidential aspirants, each logging P1.4 billion worth of ads, according to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

Another PCIJ report in January said Marcos did not record ad spending on Facebook, but the Ad Library “does not detail how much candidates spent to produce the ads and payments to social media experts who managed their accounts.” – Rappler.com