Bong Go second poorest among senators

MANILA, Philippines — Neophyte Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, one of the biggest spenders in the 2019 midterm elections senatorial race, is among the poorest senators in the 18th Congress.

An updated summary of the senators’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth showed that Go, the chief executive’s former aide, is the second poorest of the 24 lawmakers in the upper chamber and the poorest of the four neophyte senators.

Go reported a total net worth of P15.5 million as of June 2019. He was the second top spender in the senatorial race of the 2019 midterm elections, spending over P161 million on his campaign.

The amount was sourced from campaign contributions amounting to P162,035,537.34 and P415,500 from his own money.

READ: P2.4-B pre-campaign ads: Bong Go, Marcos, Roxas, Roque top spenders

At the bottom of the list is detained Sen. Leila de Lima, who posted a net worth of P7.71 million. De Lima has been detained since 2017 over drug charges.

First-timers

Sen. Francis Tolentino posted the highest net worth among first-time senators. Duterte’s former political adviser declared a net worth of 62.48 million as of June 30.

Sen. Imee Marcos—whose family is linked to ill-gotten wealth and massive corruption during her late father’s two-decade rule—reported a net worth of P29.97 million. Former top cop Ronald Dela Rosa, meanwhile, has P28.26 million net worth.

Villar remains richest

Sen. Cynthia Villar, whose family owns homebuilder Vista Land and shopping-center developers Starmalls Incorporated, is still the richest in the 24-member chamber. She declared a net worth of P3.53 billion with no liabilities as of June 30.

Villar’s wealth, however, is lower by over P185 million compared to last year’s P3.72 billion.

Her husband, tycoon Manuel Villar, is the country’s richest man with a net worth of $6.6billion.

Joining Villar in the billionaires’ club is Sen. Manny Pacquiao with a net worth of P3.01 billion.

The third richest in the upper house is Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto with P555.32 million. He was followed by Sen. Juan Miguez Zubiro with 182.85 million.

Declaring a net worth of P164.20 million, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla placed fifth.

Revilla is one of the lawmakers—along with former colleagues Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada—accused of misusing P517 million of their Priority Development Assistance Fund and funneling it to bogus non-government organizations. The Sandiganbayan acquitted Revilla from the government’s plunder charge in December 2018.

Below is a list of senators ranked by their net worth: