Statement of Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III
on the 2017 COA Report
January 24, 2019

The 2017 COA Report states that I had the highest expenditure among Senators. For the year 2017, I was the Senate President.

Hence, this report of the Senate President incurring the highest expenditure relative to other Senators should not come as a great surprise. This should be expected, as the Senate President is the Head of the Agency and has additional functions and responsibilities.

The budget of the Senate reflects the prioritization of the Office of the Senate President. The Senate President receives a budget more than twice that of an ordinary senator.

For the year 2017, as the Senate President, I could have used P158M but spent P127M, hence, the reported expenditure is not only well within the budget allocated for the office but I also had savings in the amount of around P31M in year 2017.

What is important is that for the year 2017, as far I know, no Notice of Suspension. Disallowance and Charge was issued to the Senate by the COA. This means that all the Senate's expenses as well as the reporting of said expenses in 2017 were all in order and in accordance with law.