Monday, June 04, 2007 Cuenco, Davide report excess in campaign fund donations By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
IF THEIR statements of electoral expenses and contributions are to be believed, two Cebu City candidates actually earned extra from the elections.
The election period made Rep. Antonio Cuenco (south district) richer by P14,816, after receiving P700,000 in contributions and spending only P685,184 for his campaign, according to the report he submitted to the Comelec.
All his campaign funds were used to pay for his political advertisements on television, print and radio.
Performance
Cuenco did not indicate how much he spent for the meals and allowances of his campaign staff in his statement of expenses. The congressman could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Aside from the easy name recall and perhaps his performance at the City Council during his first term, a campaign mounted with only P372,525.75 helped Councilor Hilario Davide III land on the top spot in the council race.
Statements
Davide also has an excess of campaign funds, having received P417,100 in contributions from his relatives and friends.
Cuenco and Davide were the first winning candidates in the May 14 polls to submit their statements of electoral expenses and contributions, as required under Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 7794.
Three other opposition and independent candidates submitted the same documents to the Comelec Cebu City offices.
Campaign
George Chang and former city councilor Danilo Fernan, who ran for councilor in the north district, spent P134,194.75 and P144,048.35 for their campaign, respectively.
Independent council bet for the south district, Neville Campos, spent P87,400.
Filers
All filers were able to comply with the limit for election expenses, as allowed by the Comelec.
In Cebu City’s north district, congressional and council bets who are with a political party can spend only up to P628,338, while those running in the south district are allowed to spend only up to P754,596.
A total of 209,446 voters are registered in the north district while the south district has 251,532 registered voters.
Receipts
While most candidates reduced their statement of expenses to a two-page report without the specifics, Davide submitted a stack of bond paper containing all receipts, grocery list and itemized purchases made during the campaign.
The list was detailed, from rice to the P10 worth of cloves of garlic bought for the meals of his campaign staff.
His other expenses included campaign materials and supplies, fuel for vehicles used during the campaign and allowances for the staff.
Streamers
Cash contributions and donated boxes of sardines, t-shirts, sacks of rice, free use of vehicles and pieces of cloth for streamers were also included in the report.
For his part, Cuenco reported to the Comelec that he got P500,000 in contributions from his political party, Lakas, and P200,000 from his brother, Jose Cuenco.
His expenses included print advertisements that cost him P485,600 and radio and television ads amounting to P199,584.
Cuenco won his third and last term in the May 14 polls, defeating businessman Jonathan Guardo in the congressional race in the south district. (LCR)
