COA names Enrile as biggest spender in 2013

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile (Facebook photo)

MANILA – Records from the Commission on Audit (COA) showed that Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was the biggest spender in the year 2013 with audited expenses of P73.891 million.

The itemized list of expenses showed that Enrile received P1.145 million as salary for the whole year, P567,393 combined payments for two committees, and P215,830 as Senate officer.

Enrile also spent a total of P2.685 million alone for his foreign travel expenses. This amount is separate from his staff’s expenses which amounted to P16.2 million.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was declared as the second highest spender with P72.712 million. He received P1.61 million in salaries.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. was the sixth biggest spender with P55.58 million.

All senators are currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam fund.

The other top spenders include: Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (third, P68.951 million), Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III (fourth, P61.616 million), Sen. Vicente Sotto (fifth, P56.33 million), Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (seventh, P55.43 million). Also Senators Gregorio Honasan (P54.51 million), Ralph Recto (P53.023 million) and Francis Escudero (P52.429 million) made it to the top 10.

The full report was published on Sunday. COA records showed that a total of P27.992 million went to the senators’ salaries; P8.754 million to local travels; P28.280 million to foreign travels; P313.920 million for salaries and benefits of their staff; P266.961 million for the staff’s foreign travels; P24 million for the staff’s local travels; P107 million for meetings and conferences; P23 million for professional and consultancy fees; P4 million for supplies and materials; P92.78 million for rental of office space and equipment; P192.25 million for extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses; P116 million for other maintenance and operating expenses, and P3.224 million for capital outlay.

According to COA, the grand total of all the expenses of the senators was P1.210 billion for 2013 alone.