Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali emerged as the number one member of the House of Representatives as far as spending taxpayers’ money is concerned.
Umali spent a total of P19,440,114.29 from January to December 2014, making him the top huge spender among the 290 lawmakers in the lower chamber.
The Mindoro lawmaker received P6,205,269.99 in salary and other allowances from the congressional committees that he heads. For local travel expenses, the 61-year old lawmaker spent P975,540.02 for the year, according to Philippine Star.
His other expenses include the P1,148,161.61 for “field staff allocation”; P1,271,760 for contractual consultants; P480,000 listed as representation; P242,842.49 for communication, P203,956.07 for supplies; P1,180,200 as public affairs fund; P3,873,606.65 for his central office staff, and P3,858,777.66 for maintenance and other operating expenses.
Umali is a member of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) and sits as the deputy spokesperson of the LP’s National Political Council.
Following Umali in the list of top spenders in Congress were Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab (P16,868,192.94); House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II (P16,502,325.27); Batangas 4th District Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza (P16,395,673.78); Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Romero Federico Quimbo (P16,016,655.9); and Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte, Jr.
(P15,328,016.23),
On the other hand, the “thriftiest” lawmaker is Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, who only spent P5,547,577.21 in 2014.
Valenzuela City 1st District Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian and Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon were also among those who did not go beyond the P10-million threshold, with their expenses of P9,681,549.58 and PP9,682,001.64 respectively.