Senator Cynthia Villar is still the richest legislator in the Senate, based on the Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) for 2017. In the past year, Sen. Villar’s net worth amounted to P3.6 billion, up P5 million from her net worth in 2016. She is the wife of businessman and ex-Senator Manny Villar. Their family is among the most influential in the country’s real estate industry.
The second richest senator is still Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who declared a total net worth of P2.95 billion, down by P126 million from his P3.07 billion net worth in 2016. It is an open book that the senator had become rich from being a world boxing champion for many years and for wisely investing his riches. However, Sen. Pacquiao also had the most significant drop in wealth last year among all the senators.
On the other hand, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is the poorest senator with a declared net worth of P6.88 million, up from the previous year’s P5.98 billion. The senator is known for being among the fiercest critics of the Duterte administration.
Second to the poorest senator is Sen. Leila de Lima, whose declared net worth was P10.2 million. The lady senator is still in detention (while being charged with non-bailable offenses) for allegations that she had a hand in the illegal drug trade in the past years.
Here’s the list of the current Filipino senators, ranked from the richest to the poorest based on their 2017 SALNs:
1. Cynthia Villar – P3.6 billion
2. Manny Pacquiao – P2.9 billion
3. Ralph Recto – P538.9 million
4. Juan Miguel Zubiri – P152 million
5. Juan Edgardo Angara – P131.8 million
6. Franklin Drilon – P93.7 million
7. Grace Poe – P90.7 million
8. Sherwin Gatchalian – P88.2 million
9. JV Ejercito – P78.9 million
10. Richard Gordon – P69.5 million
11. Vicente Sotto III – P64.7 million
12. Nancy Binay – P60.6 million
13. Loren Legarda – P51.3 million
14. Bam Aquino – P39.2 million
15. Panfilo Lacson – P36.3 million
16. Gringo Honasan – P25.2 million
17. Joel Villanueva – P23.7 million
18. Koko Pimentel (Senate President) – P18.1 million
19. Risa Hontiveros – P16.2 million
20. Francis Pangilinan – P13.4 million
21. Francis Escudero – P8.5 million
22. Leila de Lima – P7.9 million
23. Antonio Trillanes IV – P6.9 million
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte is less rich compared to more than half of our senators. In 2017, his SALN reflected total worth of P28.5 billion, up by over a million pesos.