SEN. Camille Villar spent the most among the 12 winning senatorial candidates during the campaign period for the May 2025 national and local polls.
In her submitted Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs), Villar said she spent P179,642,664 during the campaign period that ran from February 11 to May 10, 2025.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson spent the least during the campaign period, listing P18,955,871 in expenses during the three-month period.
Copies of the SOCEs submitted by all candidates who ran during the May 12 polls were released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Also having high election expenditures were Senators Lito Lapid and Pia Cayetano with P163,580,568 and P162,014,961, respectively.
Ranked 4th to 6th among top spenders are Senators Imee Marcos (P139,298,208), Ronald dela Rosa (P128,728,961), and Christopher Go (P127,313,761).
Senators Francis Pangilinan (P119,400,972), Rodante Marcoleta (P112,857,951), and Erwin Tulfo (P110,358,697) are at 7th, 8th, and 9th spots, respectively.
At 10th and 11th places are Senators Vicente Sotto III and Paolo Benigno Aquino with P96,638,901 and P86,150,395, respectively.
Under the law, each candidate is allowed to spend P3.00 for every registered voter.
TOP CONTRIBUTION RECIPIENTS
The SOCEs released showed that Cayetano got the most contributions, with P169,623,644; followed by Dela Rosa (P160,601,884), Lapid (P160,300,000), Villar (P159,640,000), Marcos (P138,500,000), and Go (P125,942,386).
Other candidates also received contributions, particularly Tulfo (P120,130,000), Pangilinan (P119,400,972), Lacson (P118,510,777), Aquino (P86,962,657), and Sotto (P35,500,000).
Marcoleta said he did not get any contributions.
Comelec chairman George Garcia urged the public to help in the evaluation and verification of the submitted SOCEs.
He said accessing the SOCEs via the Comelec website will help ensure that all candidates and political parties and party-list organizations complied with the campaign finance rules.
“It’s not enough that they submit their SOCEs as a matter of requirement. Now that we have made it public, everybody has an obligation to review them, look into them… Are there prohibited contributors? Why are there excess expenditures?” said the poll chief.
“We should always make SOCE as an election issue… This is how important the SOCE and public vigilance is during elections,” he also said.
