INTERACTIVE: The net worth of your congressman
Note: The following graph is based on the 2011 summary report of SALNs from the House of Representatives, pending the release of the actual SALNs for 2009-2011 by all House members.
Of all the things that ex-Chief Justice Renato Corona was accused of, it was what he didn't do that did him in.
Of all the things that ex-Chief Justice Renato Corona was accused of, it was what he didn't do that did him in.
He failed to include a substantial part of his wealth in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), and so the Senate kicked him out of office. That experience should teach all public officials to take this routine document seriously, and prove to citizens that it can be used as a tool for accountability.
Our interactive graph presents data from the latest SALNs of all members of the House of Representatives and enables users to sort them in various ways by clicking the tabs. Just mouse over the graph to see how each legislator in the lower house stacks up relative to his or her colleagues.
A caveat: The House has made available to the public only a summary report containing the figures cited in the graph above, and not the actual SALNs that contain details about the purported assets and liabilities of its members. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, which has assiduously reported on compliance with the SALN law over the years, recently sent individual requests to 284 House members; only 22 legislators furnished the PCIJ with copies of their most recent SALN.
A caveat: The House has made available to the public only a summary report containing the figures cited in the graph above, and not the actual SALNs that contain details about the purported assets and liabilities of its members. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, which has assiduously reported on compliance with the SALN law over the years, recently sent individual requests to 284 House members; only 22 legislators furnished the PCIJ with copies of their most recent SALN.
Any insights or observations after interacting with the data? Share them in our comments space below.
A couple we would like to note:
- Some of the poorest legislators are party-list representatives who are among the most vocal and active members of the House.
- The House is still composed overwhelmingly of very wealthy "Representatives," which makes them far from representative of the majority of their constituents.
Data source: HOR Summary Report of filed Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for CY 2011 of members of the House of Representatives, 15th Congress (see below)
