MANILA, Philippines - Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny Villar was the biggest spender in the May 10 elections among 9 presidential candidates, while Liberal Party's Mar Roxas topped poll expenses among 8 vice-presidential bets, according to official reports submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of Thursday afternoon.

Villar spent the most in the 2010 elections, with P431,557,816 in expenses. He finished third in the presidential race, behind President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and former President Joseph Estrada.

Aquino, standard-bearer of the Liberal Party, was the second biggest spender among the presidential candidates. He spent P403,119,981.81 million for his successful presidential bid, according to his statement of contributions and expenditures.

Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD spent P3,463,307.21. The administration candidate placed a poor fourth out of 9 candidates.

Another presidential bet, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, said she spent P55,182,264 in the election, including P54,445,893 on political ads in broadcast networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7.

Roxas biggest spender in VP polls

Three vice-presidential candidates have also submitted to the Comelec their statements of contributions and expenditures in the May 10 polls.

Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas spent the most with P279,351,224 in a failed bid, followed by Nacionalista Party vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda with P210,280,000.

Roxas and Legarda came second and third, respectively, in the vice-presidential elections.

Former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando spent P80,081,865.61 for his campaign.

The Comelec has given all candidates until June 24 to submit their list of poll expenses.

Comelec Law Department head Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan said the poll body will tap independent groups to help audit the statements of expenditures and contributions of the candidates and their political parties in the last election.

Among the groups being tapped are the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Pera't Pulitika, Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants.

An abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak report earlier said national candidates splurged a total of P4.3 billion on advertising, based on data from AGB Nielsen. The amount makes up 29% of the total P15-billion estimated expenditure for this year's elections.

Among the four presidential contenders, Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. was the biggest spender who devoted approximately P750 million to advertising.

Leading presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III was the 2nd highest spender on advertising, after allocating P512 million.