Friday, May 13, 2011
FORMER President and now Pampanga second district Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Pampanga's third district Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr. are among the top 20 wealthiest lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Arroyo is 17th richest with P140.21 million, her 2010 Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) shows.
However, the richest representative in the province is Gonzales, the 11th wealthiest of the 284 congressmen based on his SALN report released by the House of Representatives secretary general.
The lawmaker, who has a net worth of P156.65 million, fell two places in the list of the richest congressmen compared to 2009 when his SALN showed his net worth at P158.49 million.
Not far behind is fourth district representative Anna York Bondoc at 34th place with P88.66 million.
First district lawmaker Carmelo Lazatin, meanwhile, only registered less than half of his colleagues with P18.73 million. Lazatin's net worth places him at 153rd.
Relatives of the former President were also not far behind in the list.
The former President's brother-in-law Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo (Negros Occidental) ranks as 18th richest with P137.92 million. He is down three places from last year.
The former President's son, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, has P95.55 million worth of assets. Mikey and his wife, Angela, were recently slapped with tax evasion charges by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The youngest Arroyo son, Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo, is 35th richest with P87.26 million.
In the last Congress, Mikey's net worth was P102.25 million, placing him at the 22nd spot, while his brother Dato declared P90.39 million, putting him in the 27th place.
Eight-division boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao, meanwhile, is the only lawmaker whose assets amount to P1 billion. Pacquiao's net worth totaled to P1.13 billion.
Senator Manuel Villar, who lost in the 2010 presidential elections, has a net worth of P725.2 million, down from P 1.046 billion reported in 2009.
In the House of Representatives, Pacquiao is followed by Negros Occidental Representative Alfredo Benitez with P624.85 million. Benitez owns the bingo and entertainment company, Bingo Bonanza.
The third richest out of the 284 congressmen is former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos with P623.6 million.
The other lawmakers who belong in the top 10 richest are Representatives Julio Ledesma IV (Negros Occidental) with P555 million; Ferdinand Romualdez (Leyte) with P475.61 million; Augusto Boboy Syjuco (Iloilo) with P294.6 million; House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte with P283.29 million; Enrique Cojuangco (Tarlac) with P199.59 million; Rodolfo Farinas (Ilocos Norte) with P195.78 million; and Ferjenel Biron (Iloilo) with P165.996 million.
Party-list lawmakers disclosed non-million assets with Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano poorest still at P75,711.57.