PRESIDENT-ELECT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. did not spend his own money for his campaign, having received more than P600 million in contributions from various sources, according to an expense statement he submitted on Tuesday.
He spent P623 million of the P624.68 million campaign contributions, according to his statement of contributions and expenditures filed with the Commission on Elections.
Mr. Marcos will pay income tax on the unspent balance, Drixel Jann S. Dabatos, a member of Mr. Marcos’ legal team, told reporters.
Mr. Marcos got cash contributions from “other sources” worth P373.25 million and in-kind contributions worth P4.2 million. He also received P247.234 million in in-kind donations from his political party.
A report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in May showed that Mr. Marcos Jr. and his main rival, outgoing Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo topped ad spending on mainstream media among presidential bets from January 2021 to March 2022 at P1.4 billion each.
Mr. Marcos did not record any ad spending on Facebook, PCIJ said in a January report. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza