Two defeated senatorial candidates from the administration—Michael Defensor and Luis “Chavit” Singson—were the biggest spenders in the last elections, according to records from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Of the 10 biggest spenders, in fact, only five made it to the winning circle of 12 candidates.

But the topnotcher in the race, Sen. Loren Legarda, will be fined P15,000 for failing to submit on time her statement of election contributions and expenditures (SCEs), according to the Comelec.

Based on his SCE submitted to the Comelec’s law department, Defensor declared a total of P121.58 million in campaign expenses during the May elections.

Singson and Angara declared spending P97.8 million and P94.8 million, respectively.

The other big spenders are: administration bet Prospero Pichay (89.3 million); administration bet Juan Miguel Zubiri (89.1 million); opposition bet Manuel Villar (84.5 million); administration bet Joker Arroyo (83.4 million); opposition bet Panfilo Lacson (82.8 million); administration bet Vicente Sotto III (80.2 million); and administration bet Tessie Aquino Oreta (78.8 million). (Click here for the list of campaign expenditures in the 2007 senatorial elections).

Following Oreta are defeated administration candidates Cesar Montano (78.6 million) and Ralph Recto (P76.5 million), who outspent winning bets Benigno Aquino III (P68 million), Francis Pangilinan (P67 million), Francis Escudero (P64.9), Alan Peter Cayetano (P37 million), Gregorio Honasan (P10.3 million), and Antonio Trillanes IV (P4.9 million).

The law allows senatorial bets to spend P3 for each voter, or a total of P135 million in the last elections, where there were 45 million registered voters.

Only 27 of the 37 senatorial aspirants have submitted their SCEs. According to Comelec lawyer Jocelyn de Mesa, candidates who failed to beat the deadline in submitting their SCEs will pay an administrative fine of P15,000.

Under Comelec rules, candidates for national and local elections are required to file an itemized statement of all their election contributions and expenses 30 days after election day.

The Comelec extended the deadline from June 13 to June 29.

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