Anton Lagdameo is the top contributor to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s presidential campaign, spending P247.324 million, according to the Chief Executive’s Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCE) released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday.
Lagdameo, the current Special Assistant to the President, gave nearly 40 percent to Mr. Marcos’ declared P624 million in campaign contributions in his successful bid for the presidency following the May 9 elections.
A total of 67 donors, 20 of which gave Mr. Marcos at least P10 million each either in cash or in kind, were listed in the SOCE submitted to the Comelec.
The SOCE is the final Comelec requirement for political parties pursuant to the Election Code and other commission rules following the conduct of the 2022 national polls.
Lagdameo’s donation was categorized as “in-kind from party,” as he is treasurer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), which spent P272 million for the Marcos Jr. campaign.
Trailing the former Davao del Norte congressman is Melquiades Robles, who contributed P30 million in cash to help Mr. Marcos win the presidential race.
Robles was later appointed general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The third top contributor according to the Comelec is Philip Lo, who gave P25 million in cash to the Marcos campaign.
Marcos’ running-mate, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, spent over P216 million for her campaign, the Comelec revealed.
In her SOCE, Duterte-Carpio made use of all the contributions she received to pay for her P216,190,935.06 expenses.
The bulk of these were in-kind contributions from her political party, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, amounting to P136,609,244.91. The remaining P79,581,690.15 of the in-kind contributions the eventual VP received came from other sources.
The top individual contributor to Duterte-Carpio’s bid was former presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who contributed P3,641,0343.72 in advertisement payments.
Davao-based ESDEVCO Realty Corp. contributed P19,923,904 million worth of advertisements to the presidential daughter’s campaign, while Senator Sherwin Gatchalian donated P12.8 million in ad payments.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Leni Robredo received P388 million in donations for her campaign, with former Senator Serge Osmeña III being the biggest contributor with P20 million based on her SOCE.
The rest of Robredo’s 304 contributors shelled out less than P4 million each, ranging from P25,000 to P3 million, as she wound up second to Mr. Marcos, who succeeded President Rodrigo Duterte.